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Monday, April 21, 2008

Truck Upgrade continues...

Well, got a stereo installed and now am looking to upgrade the speakers from the stock speakers already in the truck. I'm also considering putting in an amp and sub-woofer to get a little more bass. The part of the dash that was removed, more than likely when the previous owner took out the stereo to put into their new vehicle, has been replaced as well as the A/C vents, the window seals have been restored. The old window seals were cracked and falling apart so they needed to be replaced with a new set so the water doesn't get into the doors.

The right side vent that I broke cleaning has also been replaced for a new one. Now the only thing left for the interior of the cab is to replace the ceiling that is falling down. That will be done later. For the exterior, I'll have to get the muffler, rear brakes, oil cooler lines and the fuel filter done at a shop. This way if they break it, they'll have to fix it.

Once I get the truck back to it's original condition, I'll be looking to upgrade the looks of the truck by adding a push bar, replacing the front grill, getting new rims and tires then eventually getting the little rust spots fixed and repainted.

In the mean time, I'll be trying to save up to get a new DSLR camera. I've been looking at the Nikon D300 as my upgrade to my current camera, an Olympus SP-350 and also get my costume together for the Renaissance Festival, which I'll have pictures of, hopefully with the Nikon.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Friday, April 11, 2008

Somewhat consistent... but I still hate the snow...

It seems that Winter doesn't want to give up just yet. It's already April and there's still snow with more snow predicted for the weekend. One thing for sure, I'm going to change the fuel filter on my truck no matter what the weather is like.

Within the next 2 weeks, my truck will go from version 92 to 92.A with the parts I'll be getting. I'm also hoping that I'll be finally getting a radio installed so that when I have to drive farther or wait, I'll have something to listen to. Talking about radios, the 3 that I'm looking at all have an Aux. input in the front of the unit. This will allow me to connect my mp3 player without having to use a headset while driving (very dangerous).

I'll also have to pick up some engine cleaner to get the engine cleaner than using Simple Green.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Another year older... or what to expect during the Yakudoshi year...

That time of the year has come and gone and this year is not one that I am looking forward to. You see, the Japanese call it Yakudoshi.

On About.com they had this:

Yakudoshi are the years of calamity. This is a Japanese belief that people at the ages of yakudoshi are likely to experience misfortunes or illness. It is generally believed that men's yakudoshi are the ages 25, 42 and 61, and for women 19, 33 and 37, though there are local and historical variations. One's yakudoshi is measured by adding one to the actual age.

The ages of 42 for men and 33 for women are considered to be particularly bad years, honyaku (great calamity). This is probably because the numbers 42 and 33 are phonetically unlucky numbers. 42 can be pronounced "shi-ni" which is homophonous with the word "to death," and 33, when pronounced as "sanzan" means "hard", "terrible", or "disastrous". When reaching yakudoshi, many people go to Shinto shrines for exorcism (yakubarai). Although this is just a superstition, it may not be improbable because people seem to go through hard times with their health or jobs around these ages.

Many people are also aware that the years preceding and following a major yakudoshi are yakudoshi years too. The year before yakudoshi is called maeyaku, while the year after is called atoyaku.

So I guess I was supposed to have this party to ward off the bad luck, but being by myself, I really don't have anyone that would. Usually this would be with family that would celebrate (so to speak). However, I believe that I maybe in the clear because the Japanese believe your age starts from the time of conception. This way, at the time of your birth, your already considered 1 year old, where I believe in the American culture, your considered 1 year old on your first birthday.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Just like a computer...

I pretty much spent the whole day driving around to the different auto parts stores and the junk yard, looking for parts and some additional accessories for the truck. After getting back, my friend and I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out why I didn't have any parking and dash lights, it also turned out my horn didn't work.

We even took apart the tail lights to see if there was a current getting to the tail lights. None what so ever. So, finally he ended up taking every single fuse out and looking at them. Turns out I had missed a fuse that was burnt out. Replaced that and then every thing worked.

Now for the fun part, upgrading the truck (or as others would put it customizing). I've got some parts that I already have in mind that I would like to get. For now... I have my eyes on something else... A new DSLR camera from Nikon.

つづく ( To be continued... )

A work in progress...

Well, the truck has been one of the best things I've purchased so far. However, it would be nice if I could drive it at night. I'll have to try and figure out the parking lights thing before I can drive it. It does limit where and how far I can drive before I need to stop at night due to a lack of running lights.

The headlights, turn signals and high beams work... but it won't make a difference if someone is coming up from the rear at night. After I get that resolved, I'll be planning on upgrading the truck... I can just see it now... sinking all my money into the truck and not being able to get that Nikon D300... Hmm....

つづく ( To be continued... )

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Undocumented features...

Well, as I own the truck further and further out, I've learned a little bit more. Tonight, I got back to the truck, it started just fine. I find out that the instrument panel and parking/running lights don't work... I checked the fuse and it was fine. The headlight turns on, but not the rest. Ok, you've noticed that I wrote headlight and not headlights. Well, when I first looked at the truck, we, my friend and I, that only one headlight worked... no big deal, I'll just replace the bulb later.

Good thing I hung on to the Camry. The bad part, I already transferred the insurance. At least I still have the current cards for the Camry. I'll need to drive the car till this weekend so I won't have to drive the truck until after we can figure out why the above mentioned issues can be resolved.

Just to see what happens, I put my car up on Craig's List but didn't expect to get any response at all considering the condition of the car. What I got was about 15 responses... I guess I should've expected it considering I'm asking $165 for the car. It does run...


つづく ( To be continued... )

Saturday, February 16, 2008

I got a new (used) Truck


Chevrolet Sierra 1500
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66
Finally! I have a better than decent vehicle. It's a 1992 but from the actual pictures of the truck, you can't see any rust at all. It did come with a trailer hitch, now just got to buy the post for it. There were other vehicles on the lot that I had considered, but after looking this one over, I just had to get it.

It didn't have a radio and the place where the EQ/Tape player and vent was, that panel was missing. Now I have to see if I can find a replacement. I've already been to a junk yard to see if I could find that piece, but all of the trucks in the yard had that particular piece missing. According to my friend that went with me to look it over as well noticed that the tires are pretty new... that's a bonus! Although it did give me a scare when I took it to the dollar car wash and it wouldn't start.

I got lucky because my friend was close by and was able to help me push it out of the bay. We tried to start it and it wouldn't turn over but all of the electronics would go on. I ended up calling a tow company to have it towed to a auto repair shop and they told me they'd be there in 20 to 30 minutes. About 10 or 15 minutes later, I tried to start the truck again and it started right up as if nothing happened. My friend suspects the starter may have gotten wet when I sprayed the undercarrige down to clean it. I called the tow company back to cancel the tow and drove it home.

After finally getting it back home, the first thing I did was clean the dash and wipe it down with Armor All, cleaned the windows both inside and out and gave the outside of the windows a coat of RainX. My friend cleaned up parts of the engine and took apart the air cleaner and filter just for good measure. He also suggested to get the transmission and radiator a flushing as welll as an oil change since it looked like the oil hasn't been changed and was down a quart.

I think tomorrow, I'll see if I can find my chrome polish and get the chrome parts of the truck, maybe even give it a coat of polish. I do need to get a new light bulb which should be an easy swap out.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

DS Lite, Crimson and Cobalt

As promised here is the picture of both of them side by side before selling the "Crimson" red and black DS. Other than the color, both are the same in just about every aspect.





つづく ( To be continued... )

Admin, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

I have encountered people who have some skill, some that has skill and those that shouldn't be working with computers at all but in their minds think their doing good. Then again, I tend to be a perfectionist. Whatever job I do, I am compelled to do it very well or at least as best as I can.

It's really frustrating when a person just does things because that's what they were told to do the last time it occurred. For example, a computer goes off line, the last time, someone had told them to reboot and alls well. Unfortunately it isn't always the answer for the same issue. I keep telling these people to call first and let us advise you to reboot or not, but they don't listen, they just reboot anyway. Then they get mad at us/me because they can't work or they don't have the equipment working for them to do their job... Uh, maybe you should use that thing inside your skull called a brain. Think about what you did and then get mad at the right person, YOU, not me.

Another thing that I've really grown to become intolerant about is how I have to keep repeating myself to these people because I only get 10 percent of their attention when giving them instructions. What it comes down to now is that if their nice and listen, I'll go out of my way to resolve their issues but if they want to be a lugnut about it, then it's by the book, no deviations.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Another DS, Observations on a bus and other things...

There is nothing wrong with the last DS I purchased, just the color combinations I really liked. So now instead of the "Crimson" and black version, I recently bought the "Cobalt" and black version. Everything is the same, just the color difference. I'll try to get some pictures of the both of them together before I sell the Crimson one.

Last week while riding home on the bus, I was observing the other riders as they got on the bus and while they were riding the bus to their destinations. This one woman in particular, I've seen before, seems to enjoy stirring up controversy regarding race. She seems like she enjoys meeting new people like a person who enjoys traveling. However, she enjoys engaging only a particular type of people. The male was very passionate about his ancestry, his voice was rising in volume and seemed to be speaking faster and faster and attempting to drive the point to her.

She appeared to be backed into a corner and as if she was trying to defuse the conversation tried to back peddle... What it all ends up to is that she seemed as if to have lived a very sheltered life and came from a very small town...

Other people on the bus, there are those who basically make the bus their own, talking up and loudly without consideration of others on their cell phones. There are also people like me, wearing headphones and trying to drown out those people, appearing to be oblivious of their surroundings but being very observant.

As for the other things, I've come to realize that I'm becoming like my Uncle that I was afraid of, well, not really afraid of, just didn't care for his strict discipline. You see my Uncle, who has passed away several years ago, joined the Army back in Vietnam at the age of 17. He was supposed to be attached to the radio corps, but ended up driving tanks out in the field. So with that in mind, you get an idea of the kind of person he was (no, not suffering from PTSS) but a very tough, strict by the book soldier. Oh, and if your wondering, he went to work for Martin-Marietta (the company that built the Patriot and Hellfire missile) after getting out of the Army. If you've ever seen the movie Falling Down starring Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall, he used to dress just about the same way, both for work and leisure, without the necktie.

I'm getting pretty close to dressing like that myself...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Funny thing to talk about during Winter...

This past weekend I stopped off at a Cub Foods "Super" Market to pick up some things for the week or two and had this urge to get something sweet and cold to eat. I found something new among the huge selection of frozen confections, as a matter of fact, 2 new items.

The first was Michael's Frozen Custard. If you've never had frozen custard, it's rich, creamy and very delicious. I'm a bit torn between Culver's and Michael's. It appears that both companies are from Wisconsin. Culver's has really good burgers, but are a bit more expensive than most other places. Culver's is famous for their "Butter" Burgers and Frozen Custard. Michael's specializes in Frozen Custard but at their drive in locations, have root beer.

Last night after getting home from work, I picked up some A&W root beer and made a root beer float... Oh the combination was beyond words to describe! All I can say is that if you can find some Frozen Custard you gotta make a root beer float with this. Oh, and the flavors I picked up was vanilla and pumpkin. By itself it was fantastic, but the vanilla in a root beer float just made up for the day...

The other frozen confection I found was a Gelato called Talenti. I picked up Sonoma Strawberry and Lisbon Lemon. Once I started on it, I couldn't put it down, I literally had to force myself to stop so I wouldn't finish it in one sitting (although I have done it with other Ice creams and sorbets before).

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I've been so hooked on Pokemon. I picked up Pokemon Diamond for the DS and have recently picked up Pokemon Fire Red and Leaf Green for the Gameboy Advance since the DS will also use the GBA games on it.

My friend bought a Wii for his son and so I bought Pokemon Revolution for it since it'll allow you to battle against another DS player. It'll also download your captured Pokemon from Diamond/Pearl. Eventually I'll catch them all and use them on Revolution.

I'm still planning on getting the Nikon D80 in the near future once I get this car thing out of the way. I hope that it'll be just in time for Spring/Summer when I can get out and get some great pictures.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Monday, January 21, 2008

Almost, but then again...

This time, my friend paid attention to the vehicle and not the dog or the female. Unfortunately, the Mazda was not in the shape that would've been a good purchase. The lifters were knocking, the trunk didn't open and looks like someone hit the dash to get the heater to work. The tabs were 3 months past due and the rear tire had the belts showing.

After all that, we stopped in at a Kia dealer and was looking at the cars when the salesman showed me a '07 Rio for about 14k. I impulsively filled out the forms to see if I could qualify for financing (but I knew that I wouldn't qualify) and had 800 in cash to put down. Well, they wanted some personal references (which usually means that they would've been able to do it).

After getting back home, my friends neighbor said he had a car that he was going to sell for about 2k that he would sell to me for 800. Personally, between having to make monthly payments and just owning a car out right, I prefer to own it out right. Yeah, it's older and run the risk of something breaking down more often, but it'll be mine and not on loan from the bank for me to drive.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Friday, January 18, 2008

I'm ahead of -- K --... so far...

I'm currently 3 posts ahead of -- K --.

Well, one of the vehicles that I'm interested in is still available. I have a good feeling about this one, the body looks like it's in great condition. I was just told she had it stored in a garage. If this pans out, I'll be buying a '95 Mazda 626 that practically looks brand spankin' new.


つづく ( To be continued... )

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Out with the old and in with the new old...

Well, it's about time I get another car. This winter has taken it's toll and had to replace the battery twice and because I'm missing part of the muffler (the pipe between the end of the header to the begining of the actual muffler), I got stopped the the police for a loud vehicle.
I'm also worried that the CV shaft is about ready to go, to try and fix all that wouldn't be worth the vehicle considering I only paid about 400 for a rusted body that is just about ready to fall apart at the next hard bump or deep pothole....

I've been looking on Craig's list and found a couple of potential vehicles that would be far better (by 1000 times better) than what I have now. Granted I'll be paying between 3 to 5 hundred dollars more, the alternatives would be worse at a lower price.

Lately I've been really hooked into Pokemon (Diamond, Fire Red, Leaf Green and Revolution), I haven't touched the computer much let alone play Battlefield 2 or Call of Duty 4 within the past Month. At best, the most I've done was to check my email and check for driver updates.

I hope that after all this, in a couple of months, I'll hope to buy a Nikon D80 with a lens kit. I'll just have to save money, cause I can almost taste it because I want it so badly.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Thursday, January 10, 2008

It's a new year and I'm still here...

Well, still in Minnesota, braving the cold... My car died so now the new hunt begins to find a replacement car. I do have something else to take my mind off my car...

GOTTA CATCH'M ALL!! Pokemon Diamond. My friends son has Pearl and recently I bought him the Pokemon Battle Revolution for the Wii. I'm still learning how to use it and recently got my DS Pokemon transferred over. Now I can use what I caught to battle on the Wii... but the little stinker cheats. After winning the battles, he turns off the Wii without letting me save.

So, in the past 2-3 weeks, I haven't touched Battlefield 2 or Call of Duty 4. I should get on this weekend since becoming a member of a battle clan.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Work and Movies...

funny pictures
moar funny pictures

It's not Christmas until you watch a couple of TV shows, my must watch list is as follows:


The Night of the Meek (The Twilight Zone)
Original air date: 12/23/1960
Season 2, Episode 47
Stars Art Carney, John Fiedler, Burt Mustin and Robert Lieb

The Night of the Meek (The New Twilight Zone)
Original air date: 12/20/85
Season 1, Episode 30
Stars: Richard Mulligan and William Atherton

It's a Wonderful Life

A Christmas Carol
Starring George C. Scott

Scrooged

A Christmas Story

Also, to have a McDonalds Egg Nog Shake.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Car Batteries... Factory 2nd's?

Can't complain about it, so far I don't see any difference between a New battery and a "Factory 2nd" battery. The only difference is the price. For a brand spankin' new battery is about $65.00 and for a "factory 2nd", it was about $35.00 so about half the price. So far the car has started just fine and the only other difference is that the label was removed. The battery looks brand new.

I ended up having to take back the Jump start kit, you would think, if they sell it in Minnesota, they'd make it so that it would withstand the extreme temperatures. Well, a couple of nights ago, I take it out of the car to start it and the insulation on the cable broke exposing the copper wire strands underneath. On top of that, it didn't start the car. So I took it back, only after a week of owning it. The best thing? I got a full refund, which went to getting the new battery.

Tomorrow is exactly 1 week till Christmas Eve. (Just thought I'd throw that in)

つづく ( To be continued... )

Monday, December 10, 2007

New Bathroom for Samantha...

It's not like I'm grasping at topics, but her new bathroom is really cool. It's a thing from Aspen Pet products called a Booda Cleanstep Catbox. It's larger than the old one and provides privacy. It also limits the litter from being tracked all over the place. I've also been trying different litter that's dust free (somewhat) and not clay. PaPurr Scoopable is really good dust free litter, however because of the little grains of newspaper, she tends to track it all over the place. Right now I'm using litter called World's Best Cat Litter.

It's made from corn...but according to their site, it's safe for kittens as well as juvenile and adult cats. No silica or clay and so far clumps very well, making it easy to dispose. Also it's safe for septic tanks and sewer systems. At first she was reluctant to use her new bathroom and when she finally did (a day later) she was in there for a while. Now that she's getting used to it, I think she likes it. Samantha is really good about using only her bathroom and not going any where else. I never have to worry about the bed or the floor.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Sunday, December 09, 2007

The Car and TV Shows...

Well, I guess I don't drive enough to charge the battery to my car. These past few days, the battery has been dead when I go to start my car and with the cold temperatures lately, it'll crank a couple of times then die. I was going to purchase another battery but decided to wait, my friend picked up a trickle charger and I ended up picking up a jumper battery, so I'll get by with those for now till next year and buy a new car.

On Friday after work, I walked over to Target to look at the jumper batteries. At first I was going to wait, then something inside me told me to get it. So here I am, catching the bus with the heavy box and I get to my car, sure enough, it didn't start. The instructions said to charge for 48 hours prior to use, but I needed it right away. Apparently it had a good charge on it and was able to start the car.

Tonight, I was checking to see what was on and saw something about Robert's Chicken. I passed it over and thought it was some kind of thing on the Cartoon network for kids. By the way, lately the cartoons for younger children have been getting weirder and weirder. Like that show called Chowder. Anyway, in case you hit the link for Robert's Chicken, it goes like this:

A DAILY GUIDE TO NOTABLE SHOWS by Whitney Pastorek

11:30-11:45PM
Cartoon, TV-MA

Robert Chicken's Half-Assed Christmas Special

I'm gonna tell you right now, don't watch. You won't like it. I say this because if you didn't already know this program was on — if you're not already a Chicken nugget — you'll find any number of things offensive about stop-motion skits features a dentally obsessed, upwardly mobile Rankin/Bass elf (above); a wicked evisceration of The Chronicles of Narnia (complete with topless witches and decapitated Christ stand-ins); and Stephen King's Misery, starring Peanuts' Linus and Sally. The rest of us will be laughing our sugar plum arses off. —Marc Bernardin

It was on the EW.com site. After reading the description and seeing the picture there, I realized it was Robot Chicken on the AdultSwim network. Apparently the Editor or the copy checker is off for the evening cause they missed this one. Another thought, the guy has never watched Robot Chicken before and never will.

About a month ago, I bought a Food Saver from Sam's Club. I really love it! I can buy steaks and chicken from there or Costco and portion it out. Also I can marinate stuff for grilling and possible preparing lunches for the week.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

DS Lite - The new 2 tone Red and Black version

Well here is the pictures of my new DS, you can see more with the Nerf Case that I picked up for it on my picture site. I think I've been playing games on this more than when I had a Sega Game Gear.

つづく ( To be continued... )