Is This Thing Still On?

Took some time off blogging to get ready for FuzzyGeff to come visit.

Not everything at home went right and I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked with him, but since he gets on with Marv well enough not all was lost for his trip.

Ran GURPS: Twilight 2000 for the first time in... um...

I don't think I have ever actually played my conversion for 4e.

My oldest archived copy of the 4e conversion pdf is from October 2016.  The oldest copy of the odt files are from Jun 2007 and they still have 3e stats for the vehicles.

I converted it to 3e more than once and the last version of that is from 2016!  The first was ad-hoc and while I was still in the Army in 1988.

For a while I maintained version of the conversion for both 3e and 4e. 

Got The Heat On

It's New Year's Eve and it's time to do a cleansing sage.

That means fire.

There will be some fireworks and board games with drinking too!

Made Out Pretty Well

Harvey got me this absolutely deadly projectile weapon!

The "primers" are the triggers and the spring that lobs the plastic projectile is contained inside the case.  The problem is when you load a round and close the action, the "primer" hits the breech face and goes off.

3D printing makes for a lot of fun!

A sword shaped dice box was not something I'd even thought of, and here it is.

Willard gave the best gift, though!

He says that it's been whining about being at his house among the Smith and Wessons.

If it looks familiar, it's the same gun I sold him to pay for my air conditioning a few years ago.

Happy Birthday!

Guinness for strength!

Jameson for courage!

Happy birthday (posthumous) to our dearly missed Captain Carrol "Neptunis Lex" LeFon (USN Ret).

As long as we remember them, they're not quite gone.

Some People You Just Can't Help

Marv and I have a friend with a POS car.

It's a 2009 Ford Taurus X.  That fucking 'X' is important.

She had a tail light out and the brake light is monstrous LED assembly that Ford wants $142 bucks for.  Or $25-$40 on ebay.

It was dead because the taillight capsule had leaked and filled with water.

Entire assembly, $150.

So we replaced that.  All is good, right?

Well no.

It overheated the other day.  It was, for some reason, down "a jug and a half" of coolant.  They'd recently had a radiator hose replaced and I suspect they didn't get all the air out and it'd been running on low for a while.

This is where the "can't help" starts.

Her dad, who "owns" the car, is convinced that it's the fan.

She wanted a second opinion and we're decent mechanics.

So we did a basic check of things.

The fan does not come on with the AC like it is supposed to.

If you let the car idle long enough, it will kick in.  We let it idle that long and it kicked in, the temp gauge never left the happy middle area.

Clearly something is wrong, but nothing to keep it from being driven.

Her dad commanded her to stop driving it and had it taken to his favorite shop.

The diagnosed the fan as the problem and gave a quote.

She said she couldn't afford that and her dad told her it was her problem.

So she picked it up from the shop and every warning light was on the dash!

So I went over with my scanner and found the mass-air-flow and intake air temperature codes were set.

Popped the hood and...  The air filter and duct were completely disconnected.

I reassembled those, plugged the MAF/IAT sensor back in, connected my scan tool in live action mode and we went for a test drive.

Idling in the drive, we were at 212°F.  Driving around it dropped to 185-195°.  It barely broke 197° sitting in the driveway later and leaving it in D.  The cooling system is working, even if the fan is suspect.

So we call dad.

He's adamant that the fan be replaced and the coolant changed because it's too much water and not enough anti-freeze.

Marv and I know how to swap a fan, and he offered to pay for it.  This was on speaker.

Marv ordered the fan, it showed up, and her dad had ALSO ordered a fan.

He denies ever saying he'd pay us back for the fan, only that he was going to order one from Rock-Auto.

We're still willing to install it, Marv ordered from Amazon and they have easy returns, so using Dad's fan is no biggie.

This is apparently where the fight between our friend and her dad gets really heated.

Turns out dad doesn't own the car.  It's still in her recently deceased grandmother's name (dad's mom).  Her aunt (dad's sister) is the executor of the estate and our friend was supposed to get the car.  Not dad.

Update:  The Taurus X is his car.  The car that Nana left her was sold by the aunt instead of going to our friend.  That'd make me more bitter.

Apparently none of this is in writing.

Dad and the aunt are control freaks and are using the loan of Nana's car as leverage to get our friend to do things their way.

So she, in a rage, took the car back to her dad's, handed him the keys and her husband took her home.

She's ghosting her dad and no longer has a car to get to work.

We really wanna help, but this is a gordian knot of family drama! 

Smedley On Duty

Got Smedley, the Grim Reaper, all set up and placed!

We're quite proud of this decoration.

Once Harvey got it draped to her liking, Marv came by and sewed some tacks to keep it in place. 

Fuck Cancer

I just found out a friend has testicular cancer.

They're in the "just got diagnosed" stage and getting tested to see how far things have progressed, how bad it is and what options they have.

Fuck cancer! 

No We Don't Learn

I linked Marv to one of the auctions for a Gen 1 Classic that my $300 low ball had been outbid on and jokingly said, "Still not $350!"

He said, "bid bid bid!"  And I left it at that.

Today I checked on it and saw that it was at $356 and I messaged him to say, "It's safe to bid $350 now!"

Then I checked the bid history and saw that he already had bid...

We joked around about that for a bit and he bid two more times to see if he could outbid the person who'd outbid me.

He go lucky this time and never found their max bid...

But this is exactly how he ends up with things like a Curta calculator.  Oh, if you want a Curta calculator, I can put you in touch with him. 

Willpower

"I have plenty of willpower!  What I need is won't power!"

-W. Fleetwood 

A Quest!

I have decided that I'm going to get me a Glock 17 Gen 1 Classic that Lipsey's was kind enough to have Glock make.

They're readily available on Gunbroker, but it occurs to me that I should, at least, canvas the local gun shops to see if they have one.  Saves on shipping and fees it does.

But I'm without my gunshop shopping buddy.

Used to be we'd make the rounds twice a month, but Willard has been absent of late and I'm unmotivated to go alone.

Yes, Willard, this is your invitation to join me on my quest!

Wednesday works best.

Open And Closed

I think I mentioned being "in the club" before.

Willard puts in distinct levels, but it boils down to "are you a veteran or not?" and "have you been shot at or not?"

There's things you can talk about with other people in "the club" that you can't or won't with people who aren't.

This post reminded me of a time.

A car guy friend's dad was a Korean War vet.

We started comparing notes about how different our respective Army was and then we started comparing notes to decide which club membership level we were at.

Once that was established, we got to talking about shared experiences and such.

His wife, overhearing the topic of conversation wandered in to listen better to this part of her husband that was closed to her for the past...  many years.

As soon as he spotted her, he changed topic to cars and didn't return to military stuff.

That ticked her off.

The son asked me about it and I told him it was a frame of reference thing.

You can't explain some of it unless you were there, and if you were, you don't need it explained.

So there's things you can't talk to most people about because they're going to need an explanation that cannot be supplied politely.

He and his step-mom didn't like that explanation, but they accepted it. 

Because I Done It

The new owner of the car formerly known as The Biscayne SS was down.

He's turning it into a phantom of a 1991 Olds Delta 88.

A worthy project.

But she's fighting.

I never did get the AC completely sorted out when I owned it.  It works intermittently for him.  Sounds like an electrical problem to me.

It will run great then die with no fuel pressure.

The connector in the trunk was showing signs of overheating and fuel could be restored by wiggling it.

Adam bought some Deutsch connectors and Marv and I replaced the trunk connector.

Fired right up once we jumped it, because the battery was dead from having the domelights on from removing the interior to dye them the Olds color (the reason that Adam came down).

So...

We're trying to troubleshoot things and there's stuff abandoned in place that creates a wild goose chase.

Adam tries to complain that it was my engine swap, so I must know all the ins and outs.

But nothing is where I left it.  Everything is rewired from where I had it, and messy.

I gave him a thick folder with all the documentation of what I'd done.  That's disappeared and Adam doesn't remember me even giving it to him. 

He uses the interior like a storage shed, so the junk rolling around could easily have pulled a wire and intermittently break connection.

Then he gets mad at us for being frustrated because he's got Huntington's Disease and his emotions don't process like normal.  He's in something of a hurry to get the car done before the disease progresses past the stage where he can no longer work on or enjoy the car.

But it was running when he left.

He made it ten miles before the fuel pump crapped out again.

I am taking the position, now, that it's not my project any more.  It can't be.  I have my own project that keeps getting put off for everyone else's stuff. 

I wanna help, but there's too many people working the problem and the mechanic he normally uses does sloppy work.  I know because I've cleaned up after him on The Beast. 

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.


Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.


They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.


They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.


They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.


But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;


As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.

-- Laurence Binyon

Today is not about sales. It is not about summer starting. It is not about grandma.

It's is about those who served and have passed beyond the vale.

I want them all back.

To:

Bernie Canniff (Korea, in a car club together).

Carol LeFon aka Neptunus Lex (patiently explained both real world and flight sim military aviation to this tanker).

Davy McGuire (COB USS Whale, originally a friend of my Dad's, later me).

Fred Gabow (we served together, his wife hired someone to murder him).

Jerry Pournelle (you do read, don't you? Willing to be wrong and listened to my correction!).

Kevin O'Brian aka Hognose (our beloved Weaponsman).

Paul Harrell (he taught me a couple things about guns and how to reply to dicks).

Rabbi (Uncle Ben, another friend of Dad who got me a ride in an F-14A).

 

Rich (brother of my Father in law).

Robert (uncle by marriage to Mom's sister).

Standing Bear aka William Dawkins (WW2 and Korea, who taught me gaming).

The world is better that you were in it and worse that you have left.

Recoil Therapy

Got Dissapator Dottie and Lavender Linda zeroed today.

 

12 round confirmation of the zero at a mere 25 yards.  I'm reasonably happy with it considering how bad my eyes are and Dottie only has irons.

 

Linda was a bit more aggravating.  Got the irons dialed in, then matched the red-dot with the irons and the red dot shot 2" left of the irons.  Must be a goofy affect of the carry handle mount impinging on the sight picture or using both eyes with the red dot or something.

Dialed the red dot so it hit then confirmed the irons still worked.

Odd.  Never had this happen before.

Linda is going to get zeroed again, because she's obviously got a canted front sight, and I remember having to take extra care mounting the barrel last time, that I didn't remember to do this time when I was playing musical barrel swaps for pictures of various dissipator combinations.

Marv went to the adjacent range and zeroed his Kel Tec .410.  It really hated one brand of ammo, Best Performance Shotshell.  You know it's good when they don't even have a web page!

White Courtesy Phone

Mr Willard to the white courtesy phone.

Mr Willard to the white courtesy phone.

Mr Willard to the white courtesy phone. 

I wanna talk to you about the XM7 Boondoggle, among other things.

Drip Drip Drip

The drain valve on the water heater had a very slow drip.  Like a drop on top of the dryer every week kind of leak.

Like all leaks, they don't get better over time.

Like most people, I put off doing anything.

Harvey had noticed it too and today the top of the dryer had about a 1/8" deep puddle on top.

She made a note to herself to tell me and continued with her projects.

I came out and noticed the soaked towel and a drip every minute or so... 

Consulting the internet, I read that, occasionally, sometimes, opening and closing the drain can reseat the rubber washer that seals the valve.

Today was not occasional or sometimes.

Cycling the valve made it worse.

So I hit the internet again.  I had time to look because I'd hooked a hose to the drain running to the sink and the stream was going to the sink and not all over the top of the dryer. 

A couple videos mentioned replacing the washer, but nobody mentioned the size.

Neither Home Despot nor Louie's stock the replacement valve, but both are happy to get one to me in 2-5 days.

Home Despot had a bronze valve that would replace the entire drain assembly.

By this time I had Marv helping me with the draining process.  He was slipping in a fresh bucket while I took away the empty.

When the stream got slow enough to leave Harvey in charge of watching the bucket we hit Home Despot.

Marv suggested looking for rubber washers, so I got the $13 variety pack and I got the $11 bronze drain assembly.

And left the $11 bronze drain assembly sitting on the counter because I missed the bag at check out.  Marv ran back and got it from the counter employee who noticed my fumble.

While he was doing that, I found the correct washer to replace the, "washer not found error" one that came with the water heater.  Not sure if it fell apart and went down the sink drain or if it went into the yard when we emptied the first bucket.

The correct washer is 3/8L Flat Washer Stk# 88576 11/16" OD.  Just for the record.

That was three and a half hours ago and no sign of water in the drain valve!

WOOT! 

Marv earned his dinner at the local Mexican place!

Buckets of Modelo on sale for Cinco de Mayo weekend too!

As Befits A Godless Heathen

No Easter dinner here tomorrow.

It's not something we did with any regularity and the in-laws appear to have forgotten it so we get to skate on making a big production about it.

That is not to say that we didn't make The Boy an Easter Basket...  He enjoys that.

We're not Christians here, so we also get to skip church.

I recall my far more religious friends complaining about how Easter brought out people who never attended otherwise.

Wait! Keep Doing That!

When a friend calls and says, "I almost died!"

Don't say, "Don't do that!"

You don't want them to succeed at dying!

"I almost died!"

"You fucking quitter!  You can't do anything right!  Why can't you be more like your...  Uh...  Get well soon?"

Someday I will master not putting my foot in my mouth.

Daytona Spring Fling 2025

The Beast and the car formerly known as Biscayne SS.

My buddy JT rode with me and we met with Adam.  Adam is whom I sold the Biscayne SS to and from whom I bought The Beast.

Attendance was, I am told, down from last year.  They suspect that was because of the admission going from $40 to $60 per show car.

There were still some interesting cars:

'62 Biscayne with a 409 and three on the floor!

I took this shot because I loved the color.  It did not photograph well.

'70 Mercury Cyclone.  A friend of mine had three of them and all met bad ends.

Dodge Custom with lots of subtle changes.  Including a 6.2 Hemi™.

Just room for your ass and a can of gas!

Motivated seller.

This car, also, didn't photograph well.  It looks black until the sun hits at the right angle then it's a dark bronze.  Epic Mercury Moterrey!

Mandatory General Lee.  Required by law at any car show with more than 20 cars south ot the Mason-Dixon line.

 

Update:  

There were many fake Camaros at the event.

 Just as all Chevelles are SS's, all real Camaros are SS/RS/Z28 Yenko Pacecar Convertibles.

Don't be fooled by kit cars.

Ready To Roll

The Beast is not getting smaller as she ages.  I started washing at about 4:30 pm and am just getting done waxing at 8:00pm.  The pic is from before I started waxing.

I took a few breaks, had dinner and helped the neighbors hang a blind in there too.

I don't wax her every wash.  McGuire's TechWax2 is pretty resilient stuff, I get 6 months easy before it stops beading.

Adam's Wheel and Polish's Wheel and Tire Cleaner is the shit!  Spray it on the rims and brake caliper, let it sit for a minute and hit it with some high pressure water and VIOLA! them rims and calipers be CLEAN!  Best wheel cleaner I've ever used.  Thanks to Marv for finding and trying it out.

Now I am ready to leave in the wee hours for the Daytona Totally-Not-Spring-Fling-Because-That's-Trademarked-By-Somebody-Else Turkey Rod Run Spring Car Show!

We still call it the Spring Fling and have to remember Turkey Rod Run to find the show information...

I have not gone to this show in 10 years.  Last time I took The Precious.  The Biscayne SS went several times too.