Sunday, 09 June 2012
Chris, Dave, and Root hike Mariner’s at night, though not on a full moon.
D = 4.16 km, Vavr = 3.0 km/h, Vmax = 9.7 km/h. T = 1-hour, 21-minutes
Hot out of the labor camps of Chine, I got my hands on the GoPro Wifi combo kit. The WiFi Bac has been in development for a long time, it was talked about by GoPro many months ago and now finally has made an appearance in retail stores. Some people have been able to get some that were “accidentaly” released by Beast Buy. BB supposedly has an exclusive with GoPro to be the first to sell them so had them ahead of time but were not supposed to sell them before the official date. No worries for GoPro, being perhaps clever the camera requires a significant firmware update so all these people who got them ahead of time had useless little plastic bits with buttons you could press, make symbols on little displays, and plug them into USB ports and make them warm.
I’ll sometimes grab a salmon-on-multi-grain-rice onigiri from Mamaya on Shirokiya’s second level for a snack after work on days I linger in town instead of going straight home. Today, they had something new – Hatogarashi onigiri. The English translation on the label said “seasoned redpepper [sic] leaf†so I gave it a try. The flavor was similar to a takana onigiri, but with a hint of smokiness, and maybe the suggestion of tea. The rice was seasoned, so was slightly tan, and also had shiro goma (white sesame seeds) mixed in. With that whole pepper leaf thing going on, there was a light capsicum burn in the aftertaste. Very good. Continue reading ‘Mamaya Hatogarashi Musubi (Onigiri)’
Dammit! It’s not looking good, all the online Toyota parts sources I’ve checked so far tell me the CV’s are discontinued, none in USA. One guy who brings in OEM JDM parts is going to check if Japan has them, in which case he said it’d take a couple months to get, curses! I could try the junkyards, but the FX16 is a bastard child, the only cross that shares the same shafts is the diesel Corolla. I’ve never seen one of those. I’m not sure if just the ends are shared with any other model, possibly the AW11 MR-2 as it has the same bolt on flange at the transaxle side. Of course that means I need to find some MR-2’s in the junkyard, which isn’t exactly common either now. There is a possibility the next gen AE92 Corolla GT-S shafts might fit, it would be the one piece spindle at the transaxle side instead of the two piece bolt together. If I have to that would be ok, although the two piece is very convenient for servicing, it’s what allows for 20 minute shaft changes.
Today was that Venus Crossing, but I only had a Panny LX5 and free cardboard ND filter, but I think it came out okay.
Dave at Mojo Tactical actually got these in at the end of May, but I didn’t get in there until this past Friday. This Weyland Corporation patch from Orca Industries in desert colorway references the early iteration of the sinister company in the Alien/Predator/Prometheus canon. From Aliens on, it’s the post-merger Weyland-Yutani Corporation, so this is from the Alien versus Predator to Alien timeline (which Prometheus falls in the middle of). Again, like most of Orca’s homespun patches, I don’t know if this is licensed or not. Still cool though. Patch measures 3″ x 1″. The hook-and-loop backing on this one isn’t as tenacious as it should be, especially at the acute top corners. Wear yours to the movie premiere!
$8 USD plus sales tax.
Recommended for fans
That was kinda amusing, just got a call on our home phone from Habib claiming that my computer was full of “junk and viruses” and that he’d help me. I was tempted to play along and see what he wanted me to do, but I didn’t feel like spending any more time once we got to the point that he asked if I could go on my PC.
Sheeze, what to do? The Drive Shaft Shop wants OEM shafts to work with but I’m not sure if the ones I got left are. I don’t see the typical Toyota part # stamped on it, but it kind of looks OEM because the shaft has machined down sections that the aftermarkets don’t seem to bother with. If I can find them in stock, I could go through Toyota, but thats a pretty penny, anywhere from $800 online to $1400 at Toyota Hawaii.
While I was finding price for new cv shafts ($1400, ouch) I went over to check out the Scion FR-S aka Subaru BRZ aka Toyota GT86. It being the second day available to general public it was fairly busy. Took the automatic out first since the standard was on the road. Finally being able to sit in one, the first good thing is the seat is a nice fairly snug fit. Not anything close to astronaut cockpit fit of Dave’s M Coupe, although that means it’s pretty easy to get in and out of. Not luxe like leather, but the cloth is grippy. Didn’t notice any weirdly placed seams that bug my butt like the Yaris. Recline, fore-aft, seat height and headrest height adjustment, all manual. Telescoping & tilt adjust wheel. Can gets good driver position as opposed to Yaris monkey arm ergonomics where I can’t get quite comfy.
Darn, just got a call from The Drive Shaft Shop (yes that’s their name) that they received my shafts. If it were a crusty old guy he would have been saying, what the heck you sending us this krap? We can make ya shafts for these, but don’t come back cryin to us when you break the joint instead. The guy was actually very nice. He advised me to find original Toyota Oem shafts, that they are far better than aftermarkets. If we used these there is a good chance the joint would fail. They’re the experts so im going to have to go looking now! Sheet, expensive lesson there, FedEx 2 day was not cheap!