More Rain, Grace is Wet

Water beaded up nicely on Grace during this afternoon's showers. I think the DoF is too narrow for the effect I really wanted, but, it's an interesting shot nonetheless.

The Brats Were so Cute!

Toby, AKA Fat Bastard, and Bones were just looking so cute this morning that I had to take pics.

This is a reminder to myself to post them when I get home.

Praise! Woo!

One of the guys here at work collects and restores cars. He took a moment to drop an email my way complimenting on Grace's appearance.

The engine swap was done in his garage, so he's seen her at her worst.

Meant a lot, thanks, Rod!

Malygos Was Owned

We finally dropped Malygos on 10-man. A first for The Scourgebane Resolute, with help from a friend or two. Took maybe five tries, but we got to Phase III in every one.

Tanking was a breeze thanks to Thaylla's persistence on keeping Misdirect on me, Rangoon and Rauch's great heals, and Dwyer's extra talent points in Spark Spotting.

No exciting drops (OK, no tank gear), but all of us managed to finally get our Champion of the Frozen Wastes completed. I think I've been sitting on that one for four months...

Yet Another Greasy Morning

Grace likes to be on top, and she reminded me of that by running dry on clutch fluid.

I spent about 20 minutes under her, bleeding the air out of the clutch line. I really need to get that slave cylinder rebuild kit ordered.

Those Subtle Reminders...

Grace reminded me last night that her parking brake needs to be adjusted. She was halfway into the cul de sac when I went outside a couple of hours after getting home.

I neither bought new rotors nor had the existing turned. I hope it is just a matter of adjusting the cable linkages.

Her honey-do list is never short.

It Rained Last Night

I woke to find large beads of water on Grace's hood. There is enough slope to my driveway to make her hood almost level. It was a pretty effect, shame I didn't think to grab my camera until after I'd wiped her down.

Rain in Colorado is two parts water, one part dust and one part pollen. I wasn't about to let my redhead get water spots just two days after such a thorough cleaning.

We are headed into the prime thunderstorm season. That means hail. I'll be standing in the garage watching the ice chunks pelt and shatter on Grace. Whimpering.

Sadly, the garage is home to the Golden Pig (2001 Acura MDX). It also shelters shelves of crap, for which I can only blame myself.

I think this weekend may involve giving my garage a "crap-o-rectomy." I doubt it will result in a cozy spot for Grace. Only time and effort will tell.

One of My All-time Favorite Sounds

For a couple of years, I was a "prep mechanic" at Rental Tools and Equipment in Hampton, VA. This was after three semesters of failed effort to apply myself at college. As a prep mechanic, I was the one who checked in the large equipment and turned it around for for it to be ready for the next customer. This included washing, touch-up paint, regular maintenance like fluid and filter changes, and basic repairs. There were days I went home covered head to toe in mud, grease, or oil, and often, all three.

RTE had everything from a gear puller that could fit in the palm of your hand to an 1850 kVA generator in a 50-foot container. Inside was the box was a Caterpillar V-16. It was love at first sight!

This beast was "Supersized" personified. The air filter canister was easily three feet long, the muffler twice that. Turbo lobes the size of basketballs. The radiator covered the full width and height of the rear of the container.

The real joy was hearing that behemoth fire up. The hair on my arms would stand on end, the effect was that intense.

It began with a slow tock tock tock for a few seconds, the pace increasing until it jumped to life in a fusion of diesel combustion and the the heady whine of the massive turbos.

Yeah, just like that, but only much, much more.

Yup, it's Monday

Are Mondays made of suck, or do we load them up with it in a self-fulling prophecy?

Grace Gets the Royal Treatment

Probably the first question is, "Who's Grace?"

Grace is my 1988 Toyota MR2. Her story is one for another day. For the moment, all that you need to know if that, over the past two years, I've been slowly bringing this sexy little car back to her her former glory.

Today was Spa Day. Six hours of cleaning, polishing and painting to rescue her from the infamous Toyota Superfade Red. AKA, pink.

The front fender was done by hand a couple weekends ago. It was a serious "Oops, I made a clean spot" moment. The door and hood are about as close as I could get to the reality of the horror with the picture.

I'm pretty sure she hasn't seen anything but an automated wash since she rolled off the dealer's lot 20 years ago. Colorado sun is pretty harsh, and in those days, clearcoats with UV protection were an expensive option.

She started with a nice sudsy bath to wash off the last six months of Colorado winter. Nothing fancy there, Turtle Wax brand stuff, but it makes nice foam and bubbles. Oh, and it cleans pretty well, too.

Next, I followed up with an exfoliating scub. That would be rubbing compound. Thanks to my bud,

Warren, who lent me his orbital, my arms are only numb. As opposed the flopping limply on the garage floor.

Grace lost her wing for a while to avoid the headache of trying to work around it. Not the best view, but I really don't understand guys that prefer the wingless look. I don't think she enjoyed it, either.

The orbital made quick work of the buffing. A quick wash of the pad and it we're off to waxing. Now, I've heard that waxing is painful as hell, but I think Grace actually enjoyed it. I'm pretty certain I heard her purr at least once.

Meguiar's Gold. Good stuff, probably overkill, but it's what I had in the garage. I'd rather have used a polish as a finer grind and then the Megs, but car detailing products don't grow on trees.

There she is, all shiny and perty. I've got some detail work to finish up, nooks and crannies, and, um, the back bumper. I'll probably do that next weekend when I give her a second coat.

Hmm, still plenty of daylight. I'm on a roll, can't stop now!

I purchased a restored lip about a year ago, as one, if not all, of the POs (previous owners) used it for a parking divider and curb feeler.

One rattlecan of flat black later... Voila!

She also got her grill back on, too.

Things were coming together nicely. And what does a lady need to wrap up the full beauty package?

That's right! Nails!

Off with the wheels and off with the flaps.

OK, I just gotta put my two cents in on the stuff I used to paint them. It wasn't the same as the lip, I just didn't have enough to go around. Dupli-Color "Trim Paint" is amazing stuff. It goes on with a thick, even coat and dries in minutes. No, I mean, REALLY dries.

I gave them another good scrubbing or two, and a pass with a piece of #800 emory cloth to smooth out the pits and scratches.

Then I got really anal.

Yes, I painted the screw heads.

In between coats of paint, I cleaned the wheels. I'm betting she's a couple pounds lighter with all of the brake dust I flushed out of the insides. The detail work will have to wait until I find my steel toothbrush.

Armor All Wheel Cleaner, of some "spray and wash" kind, did a really nice job of brightening the aluminum. I've been debating black rims, but I'm really digging the almost white natural look.

Natural is good. So very, very good.

Um, where was I?

Oh, yeah. Grace.

Put it all back together. Wing: check. Wheels: check. Vroom! Er, wait. Torque lugs: Oh crap! Um, check.

Six hours and a lot of work. Worth every minute.

I think I'm gonna go to work early and get a spot up front.

"That's right, boys, she's all mine. Look all you want..."

Click here for a larger pic.

You know you are a geek when...

• You contemplate a development environment for your home network.
• You secretly desire a 19" rack for your home network.
• Your home network has at least five subnets, and you wish you had two routers just so you could setup OSPF and BGP.
• Your computer room is ten degrees warmer than the rest of the house, and it is in the basement.
• You have an open wireless with firewall policies that deny access to anything. Sadly, Juniper hasn't released Captive Portal for the SSG. Hmm, maybe I should allow access to Google and nothing else, that could really mess with someone's head.
• Port-knocking. 'nuff said.
• Your requirements for a SmartPhone are IPSec VPN, SSH and RDP. And maybe 10 minutes of voice time.
• You know how to find IP of your core switch. (Hint: Wireshark, CDP)
• You realize you need a CMBD for your home network. (See above)

A Blog?

I can only wonder why I am really doing this. I probably have the the same trepidations as anyone else new to the world of Blogging. Nevertheless, here I am, for better or worse, 'till next Google outtge do we part.