wae
UltimaDork
10/3/24 2:58 p.m.
Since it is a beautiful day, I wanted to experience it in the Miata. Their website said that they had Blanton's today, so I buzzed down 127 and hit up Buffalo Trace. Not only did they still have Blanton's when I got there around 1330, they had leftover Weller. And leftovers don't count against my allocation! So a good day in the Miata, plus Blanton's, plus bonus Weller!
We are caught up. Somehow, in 6 months, we were able to rebuild an extra 1,800 transmissions.
Minor rant: Thursday night I jumped into the Corvette to take a fun drive and it let me know that the left rear tire was down to 12psi.
Minor win: I dropped the car off at America's Tire yesterday and they fixed the flat in about an hour. When I went to pay the cashier handed me the key and said have a great day. Apparently they will fix a flat for free if you're a previous customer even if the tire in question wasn't purchased from them.
Major win: The tire was able to be patched at all. I would have had to replace an expensive pair of tires that still have 5/32" of tread left on them.
Today I deleted my LinkedIn account.
Renewed my passport online a week ago, it got delivered today. Didn't even pay for it to be expedited
Getting rid of a headache might qualify as one of the best feelings in the world.
Minor Win #1: After roughly 2 months of them being idle, both 3D printers are back up and running again with one humming away printing out something for The Dancer. Still don't know what caused the connector on the bed heater on one printer to melt, but for now I'm keeping a close eye on it and don't plan to have it printing when I'm not around to keep an eye on it.
Minor Win #2: Over the local school system's Fall Break a week ago, The Dancer wanted to try and clean up our walk-in closet and get rid of clothes that never get worn. We didn't get as far as would be nice, but I did go through my T-shirts to try and pare the massive number of them down. In doing so, I unfortunately found that far more of them than I thought of the ones I really like and wear often had really bad pit stains (in a few cases- the worst being my oldest GRM shirt- so bad that the underside of the sleeve was quite stiff). So after some Googling, I mixed up a very strong solution of hot water and Oxiclean in a bucket and soaked the shirts for like 16 hours in it overnight and then ran them through the wash with Oxiclean added in.
All but the worst (specifically that GRM shirt) look almost brand new- the ones that were just starting to get white spots no longer have them at all, and the others that were bad but not as bad as that GRM shirt may have a slight discoloration but are now soft like they're supposed to be.
NickD
MegaDork
10/14/24 2:15 p.m.
Our first season racing an MR2 Spyder and my codriver (left) and I (right) finished 2nd and 4th overall and 2nd and 3rd in the Pro class, respectively. It's a better finish in a new-to-me car than any of the prior 8 seasons racing my Miata in it's various configurations.
I didn't let executive dysfunction ruin my weekend.
I got the accelerator pedal assembly changed and the throttle body cleaned on the Tahoe. That hopefully will fix the P2138 DTC that popped up earlier in the week.
I also got the entire garage cleaned. I put up the last shelving unit and got all the totes stored. Yes, they all fit on the shelves now lol. I took two pickup truck loads of cardboard boxes to the recycle drop off point. All the car parts are organized by vehicle and stored in milk crates. I still gotta organize my tools better but at least they are all in one spot.
The goal is to have enough room to pull both vehicles in there before winter hits. I still have to put up all the 8' Barrina light fixtures and install a 4x8 pegboard over the workbench. But hey, small victories, right?
Win 1 - finally found a financial guy worth working with that actually takes the time to know us and what we need and want.
Win 2 - the initial retirement simulation said that "Yes, you can retire at 55 like you want to." Furthermore, that was with cutting my retirement contributions back to getting the company match in the 401k and maxing out my HSA every year. That's basically an 8% raise, tax free. I've got another 20 years until I get to 55, and it feels weird to no longer be throwing all the money towards retirement. But I'm happy to be where I am and to be able to spend some money elsewhere.
- Sean
Duke
MegaDork
10/15/24 10:26 a.m.
In reply to ShawneeCreek :
That's a great feeling! Congratulations.
No Time
UberDork
10/16/24 12:05 p.m.
Minor minor win, but still a win:
I took Monday off, and as a result forgot today was trash day.
I heard the truck outside and suddenly realized it was trash day. I thought the truck had gone by, but it was one house away so I was able to get the bin out to the street in time!
Phase 1 of the new to me Miata maintenance is finished. Not pictured are the old fluids .
And Congrats Angry!
No Time said:
Minor minor win, but still a win:
I took Monday off, and as a result forgot today was trash day.
I heard the truck outside and suddenly realized it was trash day. I thought the truck had gone by, but it was one house away so I was able to get the bin out to the street in time!
I forget the trash all the time. But if I call that morning they'll send a truck back for free. If it's after noon they charge an extra $15. Worth it.
Snagged this today at the secondhand shop. It's solid and will be put to good use. The stickers tell a good story.
I do not necessarily need another toolbox. That's a mere technicality. I'm trying to avoid that kind of negativity in my life.
wae
UltimaDork
10/17/24 7:20 p.m.
We found a coach we liked that was priced a little bit above what the "book value" is - but was in line with what other coaches of that make and model in a similar year were priced. It has 2 year old tires, everything works, and the interior is meticulous. The exterior has a tiny bit of inconsequential damage on the door that covers the generator, the typical surface rust that all of this particular model develops around the storage compartments, and some of the smaller vinyl graphics are starting to fade and crack a little. Overall, it's about a 7/10. We made an offer, then went back and forth with a couple counters, and ended up about $500 apart. I asked to sleep on it and when I checked back in today to tell them that we decided that there was no need to beat them up over $500 I had a message from the seller saying that they had talked it over and decided there was no need to beat us up over $500 and they accepted the last offer we made. So the deposit is sent and we'll work out getting it picked up and doing all the paperwork next week!
Wife's 40th bday was yesterday and I was able to make it a great day for her. Have fancy dinner plus drinks with friends on Saturday night. It makes me happy to make her happy.
I was treated like a hero this evening when I dropped by my favorite sushi/Japanese steak house this evening to pick up some takeout in the Supra!
Wait staff took pictures want pictures taken with me and the car, one of them showed me the BMW he's driving, the works.
No Time
UberDork
10/21/24 12:32 p.m.
Successful test drive following the Mini clutch install. Only a couple miles, but smooth engagement and no funny noises.
Lost my phone in a sweet MtBike crash today. Didn't realize it til a mile later. Had to ride that 5-mile loop again. Found the phone, no damage, and survived 22 miles of singletrack.
Mrs Monohue made a homemade chicken pot pie tonight. It looks and smells phenomenal.
When it cools off enough to eat - current estimates put that somewhere between midnight and the year 3036 - I expect it will be absolutely fantastic.
Spending nights in a hospital sucks.
But I have a backpacking air mattress that is super insulated and packs down to the size of a water bottle, and it made it suck much less to get good sleep
In reply to budget_bandit :
My Alps Engineering sleeping pad is a lifesaver.
Win: A bikepacking buddy of mine has tried numerous sleeping shelters, and decided to stick with a tent. He gave me a once-used high-end bivi bag because he knows I prefer bivi/tarp camping. For free...
This could be a rant I suppose, but I'm looking at it the other way.
Only 359 more payments.