30 April 2012

Mustangs on the Mountain - The Follow-Up

We have seen the Dragon, and it is ours.

Or at least, we lived through it.

52 cars at the dam for the fundraising raffle, 23 cars on the Dragon afterwards, eight of us early Sunday morning, and $3939.45 a little over $4000 raised for the Wounded Warrior Project (we had some last-minute donations).

On a related note, I really want a GoPro now, as well as a good digital video camera (mine uses cassette tapes that are getting hard to find).

27 April 2012

Sonova...

I just dropped 2K on dental work and now I'm being told there's another almost 6K to do.

I wonder how much it would be to just let them all fall out and get the kind you keep in a glass beside the bed at night?

I told the doc unless he wanted to do it for free it is going to have to wait for a while. There's other things I want. Like food and shelter.

FML.

26 April 2012

Wounded Warrior Project

Got the banner today.


























We commence our run on Saturday.

You can still get your raffle tickets here.

24 April 2012

As It Turns Out

the Mustang's powertrain warranty is 5 years and 60K miles. Good thing I was planning on doing the suspension work first.

Any bets on what is going to run out first?

21 April 2012

Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was Youngest Son's 13th birthday, tomorrow is Baby Grand-boy's birthday.

Yesterday I got in some shooting first thing in the morning and then I took YS to get his birthday present. Later on we went skating.  I went out on the floor and stayed on my feet and he met a girl and came home with stars in his eyes.

Today we had their party. There were hamburgers on the new grille, presents, and of course...


CAKE!!!


mmm...cake...

Also today:


The bad news is, all repairs are now on my dime.

The good news is, nothing I do from this point on will void the warranty.

I think I'll do this first...

Let the fun begin!

19 April 2012

I Feel The Need

for RECOIL THERAPY!!!

UPDATE: It's good to know people. Especially the kind of people who have access to firing ranges.

15 April 2012

They Just Don't Make Them

The old dryer churns away in the laundry room, it usually needs two cycles these days to complete a drying job. It would most likely regain its full efficiency if I were to pull the ductwork apart and clean everything out of it.

The washer and dryer were bought soon after we purchased the Refuge, seven years gone now, the most time I have spent in one place in more than 25 years. They are cheap versions of a brand name that is made in great quantities in a factory overseas, bought more for their price in a time when we thought they should be adequate for the three of us for a few years.

From two adults and one child, three or four loads a week, they have gone to as high as six adults and four children and twenty or more loads a week. I replaced the mixing valve on the washer a couple of times, but since the water filter went in I haven't even had to do that. Not bad for a cheap set of appliances we only expected to have last for 3 or 4 years.

My dearly departed Rampage served me well for ten years and over 200,000 miles, that from a disposable vehicle that was barely expected to make ten years and 100K in it's lifetime. It was a cheaply made Dodge Omni variant built during a time where Detroit's cars were generally regarded as junk straight off of the assembly line. Between the Omni and the much-maligned K-car they brought Dodge back from the brink of insolvency in the late 70's and early 80's. Not bad for throwaway cars.

It was almost 20 years old when I bought it and it had over 100K on the clock then. By the time it went on to its final resting place in the boneyard it was almost 30 years old and had over 300K on it. I let it go because, heartsick over loosing a wife and having had more than enough with fixing TDP, I didn't feel like tracking down the persistent vacuum leak that was causing its carberator problems. I wish I had kept it now, it would have made a great Lemons car if nothing else.

I hear it all the time, how "they just don't make things like they used to" when we talk about cars, or railroad locomotives, or washing machines, or the myriad of other labor-saving devices that we use on a day to day basis. I've always thought that such talk was rubbish, that the machines we so casually dispose of these days are junked not because they have reached the end of their service lives, but because there is something newer and shinier, or more up-to-date, or trendy to replace it. We don't have throwaway machines as much as we have a throwaway society.

I guess that makes me an odd duck, driving a shiny new Mustang automobile but preferring wooden stocks on my WW1 and WW2 firearms. My old Chevy pickup waits patiently in the back yard for its restoration work to get started, and my old Harley sits in the shed waiting less patiently for the same. Maybe one day when I'm not the answer to so many peoples problems I'll have the time, cash and room to get them done. They each gave good service, and if restored would continue to do so.

They wait until then. They never failed me, I hope that I will not fail them.

Hunting Safety

I spent my Saturday in a Hunter's Safety course rather than out and about in 75 degree weather with the top down.

I haven't been hunting in many many years, but a co-worker has a patch of land down south of Raleigh that he has invited me and another co-worker to go hunting on.

I don't know if we will bag Bambi (the other co-worker is an experienced hunter) but it should be a good time anyway.

Deer season opens in October.

12 April 2012

New Links - MOTM

Notice the new button on the sidebar, just under Project Valor IT and just above the Gun Blog Black List.

I told you about it here, and now we have a website.

Hmm, their header pic looks awfully familiar...

Anyway, go on over and have a look, it's kind of sparse but we're new at this.

07 April 2012

Mustang Day

This morning Youngest Boy and I got up and went for Cars N Coffee at Brier Creek in Raleigh. This occurs every first Saturday of the month and always has a lot of neat cars show up. Today was no exception...OK, maybe just one...


This afternoon we met with the Mustang Forums folks at Char Grill on Atlantic Avenue for the Char-Grill Classic Cruise-In only to find out that it has been moved from the first Saturday to the second Saturday of every month instead. We filled their parking lot up with Mustangs and then a few folks that had not gotten the schedule change word showed up as well.


Later on the Forums folks cruised on over to Shanes Rib Shack for our first-ever Raleigh get-together where much good food was consumed and laughter was had.


A good time was had by all, and the best part is I didn't have to make a 3 hour drive each way to get there.

05 April 2012

More Of The Same

Underlying damage behind the bumper cover, more $$$ for me to pay out in repairs, oh yay. It is all done, the body shop is buffing and polishing and cleaning today and the pony should be ready for pick up tomorrow. I went by and had a look at it this morning and the work, as expected, is excellent.

I had my session in Doctor Jekyll's Little Shop of Horrors (otherwise known as the periodontist) for a deep, deep, deep cleaning. Now that the local is starting to wear off the ache is setting in and I'm spitting up enough blood to make me think I've opened an artery or something. I'm told it will be better tomorrow but I'm anticipating a pleasant evening. Topical rinse and antibiotics will be the order of the day for the next couple of weeks, at which point my pearly whites should be reverting to their previous solid-in-sockets state.

Rain tonight into tomorrow, but by tomorrow evening the rain should scamper off to the east over the Atlantic and trouble us no more. Cool tomorrow, but mid to upper 60's for Saturdays meet and greet with the Forum folks.  Drop on by if you are in the area.

And that's it for today folks. I'm off to self-medicate.

02 April 2012

A Day In The Life

The pony went to the body shop today to get its bumper cover fixed and it is Eldest Son and Twin Nephews birthdays today.

And that is about all that is happening in my little corner of the world. Hope all of you are having a great day.

01 April 2012

Oh Lord

Now I just gotta get that Glock 19 so I can get one of these for it.

Don't blame me. I got it from Tim Ellwood's comment at Tam's.

And on that note...Happy April Fool's Day!