The wife and I just had brunch in a local mom-and-pop type diner nestled in the back of an antique shop, both establishments are owned by the same people.
I had their house sandwich which consists of ham, turkey, pineapple and sliced maraschino cherries on a croissant drizzled with some sort of sweet sauce. Spectacular sandwich!!!
Definite win!
Letting go feels so good. I've been stressing over my car and lack of money (they are related. )
I was involved in a fender bender that I know in my gut was not my fault, yet somehow I'll end up getting stuck with. Strangely, today, I don't care. If I get hammered, I get hammered. So be it.
There is liberation in no longer geving a berk.
Autocross today. Felt a little weird not driving my (now sold) CSP Miata which had earned me a third place last event in raw time. Bummed a co-drive in a nifty little E-street MRS and having never driven one in my life managed a third place finish in PAX.
PAX is weird 
Managed to change the oil in the family car in record time. I think between pulling the car down the hill and putting away the tools was less than 20 minutes. My efforts at efficiency and keeping the shop functional are paying off. I still got the older kid to bed by 8:30 despite doing the oil change after dinner and playing with the kids and all. Not bad!
Been a rough 6 months that started with a heart attack during a Lyme recurrence and various complications after heart stent installs requiring ongoing attention from specialists in urology, ophthalmology, and so on. Repeated blood work for several months indicated strong possibility of prostate cancer requiring the biopsy from hell I went through a couple weeks ago where 99.9% of guys just breeze through with some minor discomfort etc. yet I was in bed most of a week with a hurricane in town here in S FL just to make things harder. Got the results back today NO CANCER! Of course the house AC went out last night and the dual batteries in my truck wouldn't start it to go to the Dr's office visit this morning so I've still got my work cut out for me. ahahaha But Life is good!
In reply to NOT A TA :
Dude, cancer-free is the way to be. Sucks about all that other stuff but sounds like you're on the mend.
The beretta claimed another SF rallycross victory, but it was the only car in the class. Thats about as minor of a win as you can get. But another little cone sticker for the window is awesome.
We broke a motor mount, but all the engine and tranny mounts, ball joints, tie rod ends, some other stuff cost us a grand total of $65 shipped from rockauto. Moderate win, im pretty sure chevy beretta is the new answer.
I got a care package from grm, a tshirt and some stickers that should add a couple horsepower. Major win, thanks guys!
It hate working on brake lines, but it's soooooooo much nicer when it's an all new dry system that isn't dripping DOT 3 everywhere.
Work has sucked but managed to get some ME stuff taken care of this Saturday that made things all right in the universe.
Got my new up sized 255/40/18's on the front of the V
Snuck in a quick visit to C&C to see Igogottarev in Jerry's old MR2 and Coopertired
Even got the grass cut so the 84FSP coumpound didn't look ghetto
Could be worse!
It looks like Mrs. Deuce's new company isn't going to get the funding that they needed to drill some wells. That sucks, but the upside is that over the last six months she's met a LOT of people that she wouldn't have met if she hadn't taken this leap and she now has people calling her wanting to interview her. This is going to turn out ok.
stanger_missle said:Welp, it looks like I'm back in the land of the employed.
Its been 4 months after separating from the military. My "plan A" fell through so my "plan b" was to move back home. It turns out that you need money to live, so I ended up moving back in with the parental units (at 36
). Its been a E36 M3ty 4 months; trying to survive on my tiny VA compensation and generally feeling like a complete failure.
I saw a "help wanted" ad on CL for a local garage needing a lube tech/helper/grease monkey. I apparently impressed the owner because the initial response was "we will call you in a week to do an interview" to "can you come in today for that interview?" to "can you start on Monday?". It starts out at $10/hr but I will also be working their tow/recovery side of the house which is 40% commission. It might not be much but at least I can get back on my feet and get a place of my own.
And buy more project cars
Heh, that didn't last long.
Because I got a better job 
As of tomorrow, I'll be employed by a small regional parts house company/auto parts chain. I applied like 5 weeks ago. It took them nearly 3 weeks to set up an interview. The store manager kept saying "the boss" would be down from the city they are HQ'd in. I was thinking he was talking about the district manager or similar position. Nope, my job interview was conducted by the company president(!). I guess I impressed him because he hired me on the spot!
Yeah, its just a parts runner/counterman position but I'll actually receive REAL benefits, like health insurance, 401k that the company will match up to 4%, an employee stock ownership program and paid vacation.
Plus they pay for all the training for ASE certification and they reimberse the cost of the exam.
They also have certified training offered through their vendors for FREE.
The pay is the same but I'll make more money because I can work Saturday if I want. Oh and anything over 40 hours a week is time and a half.
From my questions to the president, I learned that they are incredibly employee focused and most of the management worked their way up through the ladder. The president himself has been with the company over 40 years; starting in the small engine shop back in the '70s.
They prefer to hire from within, so there is actually a somewhat solid career path.
I was very impressed with the company and I hope to stay there awhile.
I'm excited
In reply to stanger_missle :
Dude that is excellent.
Yesterday, despite working all day, I managed to go swimming twice and get in a good MTB ride. Then i went home, drank a beer, and ordered (hopefully) all the parts to finally get my 4Runner on the road.
Today is looking pretty similar, just have to decide whether my bike or kayak is calling my name louder.
Best my head has been in months.
Putting the old Passat into service I fixed the radio sunday (blown fuse) only to discover the battery is dead. Tried to jump it but no-go, totally dead. Went to AZ to get a replacement for their year old battery only to discover they won't warrantee it out since it was purchased by the previous owner of the car. So yesterday I went to a different AZ armed with his phone number and got a free replacement battery ($167!!)
The car runs and drives really nice, everything even works!
Now if I could just figure out a cheap and easy fix for the oil leak......
Lunch hour parking lot drum brake job for friend / coworker took 1-1/2 hours with minimal cursing. 
TSX decided to start.
Hopefully it will do so again at least one more time... 
Deucekid#2 just got home from theater club. He walked backstage this afternoon to find a group of guys struggling to pull nails with one of those tiny 10 inch long toy looking crowbars. He walks over to the pile of supplies, grabs a two foot piece of pipe, slips it over the end as a cheater, and effortlessly popped the nails out. Other kids thought he was a genius and bought him Taco Bell. Kid did good.
I scored a great truck, well below market value, for my neice.
I miss dakotas....
KyAllroad said:Autocross today. Felt a little weird not driving my (now sold) CSP Miata which had earned me a third place last event in raw time. Bummed a co-drive in a nifty little E-street MRS and having never driven one in my life managed a third place finish in PAX.
PAX is weird
Did exactly the same thing again today. 3rd PAX, so weird.
The new shed doors actually went together about the way they should have.
It's been pretty much a month, but between some rear end work and a new front hub and bearing, the Crown Vic is back to normal! Also, because of the massive berms blocking the view from the road, we can work on our cars in the school parking lot completely uninterrupted on any given Sunday.
Took the wife out for dinner for her birthday last night, great food and a fun group of cars on the drive home. Made for a great end too the cars driving season.
Duke said:TSX decided to start.
Hopefully it will do so again at least one more time...
TSX did in fact start just one more time. I got home from work that day and parked it in the driveway in front of the garage door. It never cranked again until yesterday afternoon after I replaced the starter. Luckily the weather was perfect for outdoor work, I could do everything from above (driveway slopes too much to jack the car), and the replacement starter fit (the solenoid package on the new Delco unit was a lot larger than the OE Mitsubu). Car fired up first time and starts more enthusiastically than it has since new.
Had an awesome weekend with the wife and kids. As with any time around a toddler (or your own kids, ever) there was some strife and time outs, but overall it was great. We even went out to eat, and sat on a patio in beautiful weather, for the first time in months. The 5 month old didn't even cry, and the 2.5 year old ate and chatted and the wife and I got to enjoy ourselves. What a relief.
First time putting an engine into a car went a lot smoother than I anticipated. Fingers crossed it'll be buttoned up and running well next weekend!
I pulled my first tractor today. Granted, it was just a Toro riding mower that was rotting away in the back yard, but still. It was fun pulling it out into the driveway so the craigslist guy can come grab it.
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