Back to the Old Grind

Spring Break..... Spring Break came slowly and went quickly. My Spring Break was last week and I went to California to visit my friend Eric. The flight over was long (about 7-8 hours) but it was worth it. I landed in Sacratmento and was picked up by Eric's grandmother. We then traveled a scenic 2 hour journey to Cottonwood. From there I joined Eric and the week of fun began. All in all the trip was ok. Mainly all we did was work on his uncle's house and play videogames. Eric's uncle Mark is cool as hell. He's just a big kid and it was fun cutting up with him. The only three problems I had during my trip was a) I got sick in the middle of it, b) it was very cold and very rainy during my stay, and c) the airlines are confusing (I almost missed my flight home because of the 1000 different lines you have to wait in, in Sacramento's airport as well as the fact that I was in the right terminal for the airline I bought the ticket with but was in the wrong terminal for where I was supposed to depart from). Anyway Cali is beautiful so if you get the chance, go! I had fun and I hope to go back this Summer and visit again. I'd like to type more about Cali but I have some work to do. Later ya'll.

Oh, I think there is a lesson one takes away from every trip they go on. With that said the lesson I learned while in Cali is: A v-groove butt joint gets a v-groove butt weld.

Command & Conquer: Generals

Hi all. I know it's been a while since my last post but that's because it's Spring Break and I'm out in California visiting one of my best friends (Eric). I'll write about the trip later but now I want to tell you about the latest Command and Conquer game. It is Command and Conquer: Generals and it is sweet. Eric's uncle Mark (who is extremely good at RTS games and has probaly played every one made), Eric, and my self have had one successful game and two unsuccessful games. The two unsuccessful games were a result of overloading the network because it was Eric and I versus Mark with a two hour build off period. In short, there was just too much information for the wireless router to process therefore the network crashed. We limited the one successful game to a thirty minute build off period and it was as Eric would say, "most excellent". Eric (as he does in most every RTS game) built a large arrsenal of nuclear missels whereas I built a large, 400 strong army of mini-gunners (machine gunners) and rocketeers. Eric crippled Mark's super weapons with his nukes and I blitzed with my army. We (I mostly though) distroyed all. It was fun and we're going to have another game tonight sometime but with no super weapons. Anyway I'll write later about Cali but if anyone is interested in a very good RTS this is it. I give it two thumbs up.

1976 Ford Torino

This past Saturday I get a call at my house around 11:00. It was my dad's best friend Harry and he wanted my dad to go with him to see this car he was being given. Apparently his father's girl friend had a '76 Torino that had been under a tarp, under a car port for 10 years and she wanted to give it to Harry. Well I told Harry that I'd know more about the condition of the car than my dad would so I asked if I could go. He said sure and we met in Newbury to go to his Father's house. We got there, said our hellos, and went to check out the car. The car itself seemed to be in ok shape. There was no real rust damage, the interior was musty smelling with a little dry rot on the dash, and of course all the rubber in the engine needs to be replaced. It also needs new tires, probably new rims, and the engine could use a nice rebuilding. The engine is a 357 small block V-8 with a two barrel carburetor (I think, I didn't get a good look at the carburetor). The car just needs a good workover from front to back. We didn't try to crank it because a) we knew it wouldn't crank and b) with all the warn out rubber seals and hoses we could have done some serious damage to the block if it were to crank. After we checked it out we went back inside and socialized with Harry's father, Harry's father's girlfriend, and her son. When it came time to leave Harry thanked me for coming and we went our separate ways. The next day Harry called me and asked me to help him work on it and that maybe once we are done he'll give it to me. This made me very happy! For the past 3-4 years the only things I've been able to work on are trucks at work, small equipment at work, and Eric's 69' Bronco. All have been good fun (because I enjoy working on vehicles) but none of these things I've worked on have been my own or partially my own projects. I'm excited!

[here is a picture of an earlier model Torino but the one I will be working on and this one look a lot alike]

The Monthly Useful Facts

1. Civil rights activist Sojourner Truth's real name was Isabella Baumfree
2. Irving Berlin, the man who composed "God Bless America" was born in Russia
3. Lightning bolts are estimated to strike the Earth about 100 times per second
4. Keith Moon, the drummer of The Who, named Jimmy Page's band, Led Zeppelin
5. On most clocks using Roman numerals, the number 4 is incorrectly represented
6. The gaint squid has the largest eye of any creature in the anomal kingdom
7. A man named Charles Osborne came down with a case of the hiccups that lasted 68 years
8. There are 400 times more germs on an office telephone than on a toilet seat
9. Venice, Italy was founded as a refugee camp.
10. McDonald's retaurants in India do not serve beef

And here's the one you've all been waiting for, the special fact for my loyal audience is......
11. Bubble Wrap was the result of a failed attempt at making plastic wallpaper