Suck! No JAL lounge privileges this time! I guess cutbacks had to strike somewhere…
(0)Monthly Archive for September, 2009
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I think the worst is over with the bronchitis after getting a different antibiotic. That’s over a month I’ve been out of action and off the bike with this! The lung tissues are still sensitive, so any minor irritation or reaction brings the cough back – I’m sure this will persist for a while like usual. Tomorrow I’m headed to Kyoto for some historical exploration, so I hope I survive this trip without too much trouble… It’s a short trip, so I’m not going to bother taking the laptop with me, and I don’t know if I’ll find a workstation at the hotel, so I’ll see y’all when I get back.
OK, got the counter shaft bearings changed out on the transmission, but yikes…. Finally got a complete shop press together from Blue Sky Hawaii, the China special tools place. And this piece of equipment is particularly dodgy. Ok, I concede that it worked. Barely. One point wishing I had a Lexan shield to hide behind in case bits went exploding. The thing is pretty light gauge and is made to rack. There is no way to get it to work straight. To be honest, I’m not sure it was worth the 200 plus bucks. I suppose if I think of it as how much I would have paid a shop to do the same, then ok. But the crookedness bothers me, I think I did a straighter job with my home made extracto/instalo tools I made years ago, and pressing in these bearings crooked is not good.
Cooped up at home working on artwork for an upcoming show, I was subjected to two bad “straight to TV” films shot at Kualoa Ranch on SyFy – Heatstroke with Danica McKellar and Aztec Rex (aka Tyrannosaurus Azteca) with Dichen Lachman. Both were bad digital dinosaur/monster films, the latter having the most laughable scenic props, including an Aztec sacrificial altar obviously made of plywood with rocks painted on!
(0)Had another one of those, WTH have I been doing all these years?! moments. Started on rebuilding the AE86 transmission. It’s got some decades worth of spooge accumulated all over it. I’d been poking at it with a screwdriver and spraying it with citrus degreaser every night throughout the week. Today decided to attack it, and this time I picked up nitrile gloves. Never really liked using mechanic gloves when wrenching. These nitrile ‘rubber’ gloves were one size fits most, and as such were loose on my skinny hands, but they still worked fine. And damn they keep your hands clean! No scrubbing multiple times with handcleaner and nail brush. And I’m sure much better for skin. Continue reading ‘Modern conveniences good’
Sheeze, the new Satan box just died on me! Usually leave it on, this morning decided to power down before going to work. Get home today & it won’t power on. Damn it, cutting into my time to go throu Oki fest photo contest entries!
On pos note, thanks Scat for stopping by & giving me a hand pulling the transmission, that was pretty easy.
A few thursdays ago, Dave got the urge for pizza. And no, we did not want to settle for the ordinary Pizza But or Papa’s. And somewhere with beer is a definite plus. Fabio brought up J.J. Dolan’s, a less than year old eatery, located downtown on the fringe of Chinatown. He’d been there, but Dave and I haven’t yet. And they got beer. So it was off to find parking in the somewhat sketchy streets of downtown after dark. Kinda wish I didn’t have my bike in my car, should have left it at w0rk. Anyway, after scrounging up $6 in loose change to feed the parking ransom, I met the boys on Bethel Street. Continue reading ‘J. J. Dolan’s – pie and suds’
The State has been using a tractor with a side-mounted arm with a PTO or hydraulically driven cutter to “groom” the sides of the Like Like Highway instead of using the normal compliment of workers with appropriate cutting tools. The result is a section from ground level up to about 3 meters that is covered with jagged, broken branches and splintered knee-high stumps. Anyone unlucky enough to encounter these would be instantly impaled. Good job!
(0)Speight’s dropped a dollar to $10.99 USD in today’s Foodland ad! I’ll pick up a spare case on the way home…
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More of the Hitachino Nest beers available imported, I had the white ale a couple days ago. Poured with moderate head that dissapated pretty quickly, but bubbles carry on. A cloudy light yellow. This is a white similar to Hoegarten, has added spices of corriander and orange peel. Pleasant aroma. The spices are subtler than Hoegarten, making for a nice drink. I think I like this one the best so far, 3 out of 4 lightly drunk monkeys (5% alcohol).
Red Rice Ale – specified on the label as brewed using red rice, definitely no German purity law brew here! And as such, it tastes like it. Poured with large head (think I may have pour a bit more aggresively), cloudy medium dark amber/red. Didn’t detect any really distinctive odor. Definite sweet, dangerously close to a malt liquor. Nicely controlled bitter finish, but honestly there was little that appealed to me. Not one of my faves, 2 out 4 rice fume burping monkeys (long after finishing, after taking a shower even, rice aftertaste).