choices, choices

As I always do when I get money, I look for the quickest way to spend it. Currently, I'm thinking of 4 'gifts' to myself; in no particular order: a new HDTV to replace my dinky one now, a XBOX 360, a watch, and a SLVR (phone). The first, and most probable to become a reality is the phone. I kinda need one. The rest are just 'wants', but everyone has a lot of 'wants'. I may need to get a new entertainment center as well...

In car related 'wants', I've been researching a Porsche 550 Spyder replica/kit car. We've got a 356 replica on the showroom floor at work, and I love it...but I love the 550 Spyder even more. The kit is a bit cheaper then what I was thinking, and a parts car is only a few hundred. Of course, none of this will/may happen till much later down the road. But wouldn't it be cool, the Ranger, the Ranchero, the FJ, the Silvia, and the 550 all sharing a driveway together. All in my dreams; and perhaps a perfect world.

well, maybe not

So I've got to thinking...maybe this whole 'no weekend' thing won't be so bad. I work a day, get a day off, work three days, work a half day, then get a day off. That's not all that terrible. It'll take a bit of getting used to, that's for sure, but it'll be worth it in the end I think.

I think I'm gonna have to get a daily driver. Not because the Ranger isn't capable of being a daily, I just don't want it to be a daily. Seriously, I'm thinking of a new FJ cruiser. I really like that thing. I'll of course have to check it out in person, but pics are great so far. As far as my Silvia...I'll get it, eventually, but not any time soon...which I knew to begin with; and since the GTO has gone out of production...it's appealing as well--still.

There was a recent surevy that ranked job by sexiness. Know what The Sexiest Job was? Firefighter of course. That's kinda cool. It may explain why a certian female has been more buddy-buddy with me, but who knows. I'm still wanting/planning on becoming a FF, just have to bide my time a bit. And if I do get hired on as a FF and keep my job at AllSpeed....well, I'll be making some nice moolah and can afford my own place, my own car(s), and some good stuff to go in/on both. All in due time my friend, all in due time.

ok...

Maybe it does suck.

So I found a fault with the new job...I don't have a 'weekend'. I don't mean that I don't get Saturday and Sunday off, I mean that I don't get two consecutive days off, period. I get Sunday and Tuesday off. That kinda sucks. Eh; I'll get used to it.

On more cool thing is today we had another race-ready M3 (races in the same series as the prior M3) come in to get dyno'd, it made 277 HP and 253 ft/lbs. Not too shabby. We also took delievery of a '99(ish) M3, its stock, but has been wrecked at Road Atlanta...we're gonna put a race motor in it, strip it, and make it into a race car. That'll be cool.

maybe it's not so bad

Hmmmm, maybe waking up at 7AM to go to work isn't so bad after all. After all, I DID get to drive an SL500 yesterday. And, get this, the tech tells me, "be sure to give a few good hard starts to see if the motor mount breaks". Uh, yeah, I can do that. No problem. Fun car it is. Then, today, about an hour before closing time, a bonafide M3 race car is trailered in. We're replacing the tranny and rear diff in it, the car is going to Sebring for the 12 hours. It's an all dark blueush/purplish '97ish 4-door M3. I'll be looking for it on SPEED; that'll be cool.

one step closer

To the end.

Cool beans. Went down to AllSpeed Saturday and dropped off an application...they called me in today to check me out and see if I wanted to join the crew. Uh...yeah. So I start tomorrow. Hopefully I'm not in over my head. I really hope I'm not. I hope they start me off slow, let me learn the ropes, feel me out, all that good stuff. If I make a total ass of my self and things don't work out...so be it. But I hope this is a good thing for a while to come. Too bad I gotta be up early in the morning. Damn.

this is really getting to be a hassle

And I'm not gonna stop.

My mother noticed an advert in the local paper for a sale on some microfur/microsuede pillows and blankets..so I picked one up in red. The suede part feels more like actual suede, not the fake shit I've got now. I may go back down tomorrow and pick up at least another blanket so I can make sure I've got plenty of fabric for whatever my mind thinks up.

Now would be an ideal time to recover the door panels, as they are off the truck, but I think I'll hold onto it for a while, as I don't want to waste it. I'm thinking of the big picture here. Maybe when I do my one off dash I'll cover the top in black leather (or have covered), with a machine turned aluminum insert panel, like the old T-Birds had, with red suede along the bottom, to add some color. I dunno, I'll work that out as the time for that comes closer.

This weekend is the big LAN party in Nashville for my clan...am I going? No. I knew I wouldn't be able to, my luck always turns out this way. You see, my sister has moved back in with us and things are still a little hectic and need to be straightened out. I really hate my luck sometimes.


--Ya know what I've noticed recently? My posts aren't nearly as humourus as they used to be. I'm not sure if that's the Winter Blues kickin in, or if I'm just losing my edge, but outside of the post headlines, there is little humour to be found amongst my normal rants and raves and boredom. I'll keep that in mind and try to spice my drudgery up some.

who you tryin to get crazy with esse?

'Cause I'm the baddest mofo around.

Jeeze, this sucks. I've been sick since Wednesday so I haven't been able to finish the body work like I wanted too...even if I weren't sick, it's been too cold to do body work, and the '01 sits outside, not in the heated shop. I'm not sure when the weather is supposed to break, but hopefully after I feel upto spending all day behind a mack.

As far as the site goes...eh, I'm happier with what I've got now then what I had, but I still would like to change it up somehow, not really sure how yet though.

oh shit

I mighta broked it.

I kinda screwed up and overwrote my template with a non-updating template. Whoops....I think I've got it all figured out and everything should be back to normal. Although the "byline" links are still a bit off and I can't figure out why. Oh well. You'll also notice that all the menus have been updated with a spiffy new black brushed aluminum look. And now, if I want to update the site later, it'll be a lot easier.

gotta love it

Cause it's full of creamy goodness.

If you notice any strange goingons, lemme know (contact link over at left). I'm making some changes to the coding and trying to streamline things for faster loading. Although I'm testing things offline, and online before publishing, things may show up differently on your box then my, so help me out and make me aware of anything strange you see. I'm fairly confident you'll not see anythign wrong though.

The new images might be forth coming...if I can get the coding to lose a few pounds, oe kilobytes as the case may be, then I'll add a bit of visual flavor, erhm, flavA, to make things more appealng. As if pictures of my truck weren't enough...lol. Of course, I'll try to keep things as small as possible so it all works for even the dial-up users. Which, if you still have, you need to go shoot yourself. Then go buy DSL, Cable, Sat, something, it's 2000 and 6 for goodness sake. Loser.

Alrighty...you may notice that the menu on the 'home' page is a bit different...yeah, that's the look that I'm gonna give the rest of the page's menus, just as soon as I get to it. You see, I'm a bit tired right now so I'm not gonna do it. I'm a dumbass and I made those menus in such a way that they aren't easily updateable, so I'm having to go back and make it so that it is easily updatable, which is taking me a while. I had to edit all the images and the code. Eh...that's what I get.

404 error

I fucked up. Ooops.

I'm mildly considering redoing the site. Even though 'redo' isn't the right word, 'properly-do' is. The current iteration isn't what I wanted to begin with, it was just an easy, and convient look that I didn't hate too bad. I dunno, I may redo all of the coding and update some of the graphics, but maybe not much else. I dunno, I still want to redo the vehicle pages, but I still haven't come up with a design I like. Eh.

Meanwhile, I've been getting some actual work done on the Ranger. The driver's side door is nearly done, one last skim coat of bondo to finish it off...mainly to get rid of the odd pinhole and such. Overall, I'm quite pleased with how it has all turned out. As always, a 'straight' panel isn't 'straight' at all and required a much larger area of bondo then what the actual patch panel is....and when sanded properly, the primered area is much, much larger. That's OK, it looks good so far.

don't make me kick yer ass

I'll do it.

Ah...mostly done with everything. Still have to install the manual door pull and solenoid; but I'm done with the fuel tank and battery. Of course, I couldn't've done it without the help of my father. Thanks pops.

No talking, just pics:







I'm not done, done...I'd still like to pretty things up a bit by replacing some hexhead bolts with stainless button head allen bolts, but another time and another place. Other then that, I think I'm happy with everything. Maybe I'll figure something else out for under the hood where the battery was, but what I've got is fine for now.

free from it all

Yet trapped in the middle.

Another good day today. Did some more welding, some grinding, and completed a project. Which one? The relocated battery one. Not only is the battery now under the bed (or will the bed will be), but it's hooked up and even works! Imagine that! I was slightly worried that it wouldn't, that seed of doubt one always has, but thus far, all seems to be peachy keen. I'm not 100% satisfied with what was put in place underhood inplace of the battery; a piece of plexiglass attached with some galivinized bolts, with two brass bolts for power hook-up, but it's fine for now. I'll think of something better later.

Tomorrow will hopefully see the reinstall of the bed, the connection of the fuel lines, the install of the manual door release, and maybe the solenoid. Today work got side tracked a few times to take care of business, but that's OK, nothing that needs to be done will take too terribly long, just all combined it'll take all day. I'm hoping to be done tomorrow, it'll let my father have Sunday to rest up before going back to work.

I'll post up some pics as soon as I take them.

I'm thinking of redoing the vehicle pages. I'm just not happy with the current set-up, and I always said that I'd redo it when I'd think of something better. I haven't really thought of anythign better, but I'm just gonna change things up a bit.

where are they?

Who are they?

Boy, today was a good day for me. First I slept in, which I usually don't get to do when my father is on vacation, then I ate some Chik-fil-A chicken nuggets, then went to my father's work to cut some metal for a battery box, came home, built the battery box, finished off the last of the chicken nuggets (I ate an entire 100 piece platter on my own), then played some Halo. It doesn't get much better then that I tell ya. Unless of course there was a hot chick in there somewhere, which there wasn't.

So, in conclusion, the truck is still torn apart, hopefully tomorrow will see the install of the bed, the remaining solenoid, and the manual release cable; and the uninstall of the door handles and locks. I can always do the body work on my own time, but it's easier to do all the stuff I've been doing with two people. Plus my dad measures everything, I just eyeball it. Eh....pics to come as soon as I'm finished with everything, so Saturday at the earliest, Sunday or Monday more likely.

oh where, oh where as all my oil gone?

Oh where, oh where, could it be?

Eeep. You catch that State of the Union speech by ol' Bushie last nite? Yup, niether did I, I was busy playing Halo. But...one tid bit I did pick up was that Bush wants to try to curb our country's appetite on foriegn oil. You know, that's not really a bad thing, but I can't help but wonder what'll happen to the cars we all love and drive? What about the classic cars? Will the government foot the bill to have the cars converted over to be able to burn ethanol? Bio-diesel? Cooking oil?

I guess we'll have to wait and see how the government handles the swap from analouge broadcasts to HDTV. There are a lot of people who simply can't afford to buy ANY new TV, much less an HDTV. Will the government help those people out? Only time will tell.

For a long time it seems as if those with the power try to choke out the fun from us normal folks. In some cases, it is completly justified, and I don't blame The Powers. Could this switch from gas as we know it be the death of hot rodding as we know it? I really hope not.

Fortunatly, things progress slowly and it won't be anytime soon that a switch takes place, 2025 by one estimate. But why should that matter? Does the future of hot rodding lie in the hands of the oil police? Will hot rodders allow MPG to overtake HP as the main attraction point? Who knows, but I certianly hope the high HP, low MPG cars will stay arounf forever.

this is a transition

We're here! Get used to it! 'Cause we've no where else to go.

Today was a good day, I guess. Finally got my fuel tank off from sitting on the ground and into the bed. I picked up a fuel tank from a '96-ish Dakota, it's fairly unugly, mostly square, black plastic, less unsightly then all my other choices without paying a shit load of money.

This is one of thsoe 1.5 things I was talking about earlier...this way my fuel tank is safe, so when I bag it, that's one less thing to worry about; but, I imagine a fuel cell under the bed of the truck where the spare tire carrier is with a flush mount filler in the bed of the truck. It's all good for now.