Power Tools!!

Just got a new power tool today, a Milwaukee 7" Polisher that does multiple speeds from a hardware store in downtown St. Paul, MN called Seven Corners Hardware that is actually an Ace Hardware Store, but on steroids. The store is better than the larger cookie cutter type hardware stores cause the staff there are very helpful and very knowledgeable.

Last month, I picked up a grinder made by Makita in a 4" diameter, it turns out I made a mistake in getting it cause the discs and accessories are harder to find than a 4 1/2" or 5" grinder. So, next month, I hope to get another Milwaukee tool, a 4 1/2" Variable Speed Sander/Grinder.

I've finally finished the full tower case, used the polisher on it and now the finish is very clear where I could get it smooth. I also tried it on my truck after picking up some rubbing compound and was able to get some of the scratches out, I plan to get the right rubbing compound tomorrow and hopefully get the finish glassy.

つづく ( To be continued... )

New hobbies...

I can say for sure that I have 2 new hobbies... 1st one is my truck. This past weekend I spent the day adding a final coat of Herculiner and then letting it dry for 2 days before putting the mats back in and the roll up soft tonneau cover back on the bed. I must say the results were very good and now the coverage looks even.

2nd hobby is case modding. I guess that falls into the line of re-painting the truck, I had an old case that a co-worker bought from me and took it completely apart and down to metal. I've put 3 coats of primer and so far a base coat and a coat of paint. I've wet sanded the 1st coat and have a lacquer coat of gloss black. I still have the side panels to wet sand yet.

I'm almost finished with adding gold leaf to parts of the case. After adding the last coat of lacquer to the front bezel, I'll be adding gold leaf towards the bottom to accent it.

I also recently got a powder coat gun, now I just have to get a toaster oven so that I can do some parts...

つづく ( To be continued... )

This weekend was a bust...

I wanted to get some painting done but due to the weather, I didn't get much done. I picked up the Herculiner and more paint to mod the old computer chassis. I did get all the metal parts sanded down and paint removed. I also got almost all of the parts primed but there are still about 2 more coats that need to be put on before I can paint.

I thought I'd be able to get it done over the weekend but being a full tower, there's a lot that needs to be prepped before I can paint.

I did order and purchase a powder coating kit, I should have that in by next week... Looking forward to trying it out, on what, I'll figure that out when the time arrives.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Love the Grinder!!!

Power tools, gotta love um! I used my grinder for the first time today to get the paint off the truck so that I could paint. First thing I did was get rid of the tail gate cap that was riveted into the tail gate door. I first tried to drill out the rivets, but that didn't quite work. So I got the grinder out and took out the rivets that way, man was that fast and easy!

After removing that, I swapped out the grinding wheel for a sanding wheel and got to work on removing the paint from the top of the bed rails. Once that was done, I got the primer on and then the paint. Total time spent, 8 hours... I didn't get all of it done and now I need to wash the truck with all that dust from the sanding.

Next weekend, hopefully I'll be able to put on the Herculiner and do the rims.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Funniest thing I've seen so far...

After getting home tonight and walking in to Samantha complaining, I noticed that her entire tail was twitching. Now, for cats, when they are happy, the tails are pointing straight up in the air. The only difference was that not only was it straight up in the air, her tail was twitching very rapidly... it was the funniest thing I've seen yet.

Other than that, for the last month so far, she always has the need to crawl under the covers when I go to bed. She'll try and pull the sheet back so that she can crawl under, then she'll just sit there as happy as can be. I've also noticed that in the middle of the night, she'll end up lying next to me and will try to play with me. The other night, she was grabbing my hand, doing those rabbit kicks and end up trying to take a chunk out of my hand.

Other than that, I'm looking forward this weekend, I'm planning on doing some light body work and painting on the truck. I have a list of the supplies I'll need and on top of that, I'll be touching up the bed liner that I put on this past weekend.

つづく ( To be continued... )

More work on the Truck...

Started on Saturday by scrubbing down the bed of the truck. It pretty much took up the whole day and by the time I was pretty much forced to quit on account of Rain, I had pretty much worn myself out...

This morning, my arms and lower back were aching from scrubbing the bed to get the top coat off so that the Herculiner would adhere to the bed. By the time I got out there to finish the job, it was about 10 in the morning. After working on the front rims a bit and debating on putting on the front mud guards, I finally started wiping down the bed with the cleaner for the final prep for applying the bed liner.

The first coat took about 1 - 2 hours to apply. The 2nd coat took about half the time. At this time, there are still a few spots I need to touch up however I was pretty wiped out from all that work. Even with the gloves and trying to be careful not to get the liner on me, I ended up with a couple splatter marks on my face and several spots on my hands.

I think part of it was from the chemicals that is in the bedliner which is the same stuff I had to use to clean and prep the surface called Xylene. Pretty nasty stuff to be breathing in, I didn't have a really good resprirator which would've made a big difference, but at least the cheaper one help prevent me from breathing in the dust.

Tomorrow, I'll have to try and get up early so that I can put the tonneau cover back on, only to have to take it off again later when I re-paint the top of the bed walls. I'll also be getting bed rail covers so I'll have to take them off again to put those on. You must be asking yourself, why paint if I'm just going to cover it up, well... if I repaint it, I'll be able to get the rust off and keep it off by re-painting, also I'll be filling the holes that were left from the previous owner when they drilled into the bed rails to hold the topper that was on there. Oh, and I got rid of the topper cause it was warped and missing the keys to lock it and also because the shocks to hold up the topper door were shot.

つづく ( To be continued... )

The last week in review...

I finally got the Tonneau cover that I was hoping to get from Fleet Farm.  I also picked up a Makita 4" Angle Grinder so I can do some body work on the truck.  There are about 3 areas I want to get before winter.  I've already painted the 2 rear rims of my truck and hopefully will get to the front 2.  I've also put on the rear mud guards and will put on the front 2 this weekend.

I'm also planning on preparing the bed of the truck so that I can put on a bed liner by Herculiner instead of putting in a drop in liner which will be better in the long run.    I've already replaced both calipers and after this, I'll be taking a break of sorts from upgrading the truck.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Workin' on the Truck

Finally got the replacement front calipers on the truck. I had decided a while ago the last time I tried to bleed the brake lines to replace the front calipers cause they were so old and one of them had the bleeder screw broken off. Before I replaced them, I decided to paint them, originally I was going to paint them red but because of the current rims and because you wouldn't be able to see them very well, I went with black. The original calipers looked just that, if they were the original calipers that came with the truck when it was first put together.

The new calipers are Raybestos loaded calipers with super stop brake pads that I bought at Checker Auto Parts and replaced the bleeder valves that came with the calipers with Russell Performance Speed Bleeder valves that I ordered through Summit Racing Equipment. I have to say, I was extremely impressed with Summit, not only did my order arrive in 3 days by UPS Ground, they also gave me stickers and a really nice hat.

For the next thing on my truck, I'm looking at a Soft tonneau cover by Lund. There is a new Fleet Farm that opened close by in Circle Pines, MN which makes it much closer than having to drive to the other one in Brooklyn Park, MN. I also want to get new mud guards that they have over there... looks like Fleet Farm is going to be my upgrade shop of choice now. It used to be Checkers, but when I went to return my old calipers for the Core Charge refund, they Clerk there named Greg (He's in his mid to late 50's, salt and pepper beard and moutache, glasses, about 5'9" to 5'10" in height) gave me a bit of trouble cause I purchased the new calipers at a different store after being told that I can go to any store to get my core charge back.

I won't be going back to that store located in Coon Rapids, MN. There are other stores that I can go to instead or order parts online. If I order online, I may have to wait an extra day or two, but it'll be cheaper and I won't be given a hard time about the core charge...

There are a couple more things in addition to the Genesis Roll Up Tonneau Cover by Lund that I want to get, the other things are bed rail caps for the sides, front and tail. I think I'll order them from LMC Truck cause its cheaper there. If they have it at Fleet Farm for about the same price, I just may have to get them there...

Well, Fall is aproaching a little early. Last night it was a bit chilly outside when I went for a smoke. There was frost advisory last night up in Northern Minnesota and again tonight. Also there are other signs... insects are finding a way into the house... So far I've caught 2 spiders about the size of quarters. On the bright side, the other day, I finally saw a humming bird flying around and about a month ago, a Hawk landed on the lawn about 20 feet from me. The hawk was trying to catch something in the tree when it landed on the ground cause it missed. It looked at me then flew off.

つづく ( To be continued... )

You must be wondering...

About the picture I have of myself. Well... here it is... About 10 to 15 years ago, while working as a Assistant Manager for a restaurant, a friend of mine once called me the "Iceman". This was because of my lack of emotion when something would happen. Most people would panic or get upset or whatever (especially when you spill a drink in the lap of a Vice President for a top travel agency)... There were other incidents but each time, I would not panic or show any emotions. So he would call me the "Iceman".

Later on, back in '95 when I worked at a Computer City, another friend formed a group called the TekLoRdz. I had actually suggested the name of the group after watching the series called TekWar. I then took on the Handle of TekBandit, since then, it's stuck with me since. I picked up the image of SubZero from Mortal Kombat because it seemed like a good fit for several reasons I won't go into detail...

I'm looking forward to working on the truck this weekend. I bought new calipers and hope to have them on by the end of the day... I hope it won't take that long to switch them out. Personally, I don't see it taking very long since I used to work on sport bikes when I owned a Yamaha FZR 600. That'll knock that off the list of needed repairs before I can work on the appearance of the truck. I still have to get the brake lines/hoses replaced, the shocks and some real light engine work.

I also want to upgrade my computer again... I'm looking at a new motherboard that will take the new DDR3 memory at a bus speed of 1600 also a new video card with the new PCI-e 2 slot and new joysticks for my flight sims... So much money, so little of it and so little time...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Minnesota's Farmer's Market in downtown Minneapolis

It's a little late, but it has already started. The Farmer's market in Downtown Minneapolis on Thursdays. All the fresh produce and other great finds. When they have it, I try to make sure I hit up the Saint Agnes stall and pick up some bread. They have the best Zuccini, pumpkin and Banana bread as well as turnovers and danishes.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Disturbing Dream

Early this morning I had a dream that I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, so this is why I'm posting this now. I don't know if what has happened with my truck recently and at the time of falling asleep, the X-Files was on when I turned off the T.V., but here goes...

I was searching or investigating something that had to deal with the Catholic church. I didn't recognize the place that I was in, but it was a room with 4 pillars of Marble, the floor, I believe also of marble, was tiled. In the middle of the room was a raised area, possibly with a marble pedestal.

I forget what it was leading towards, but there was something about combining certain things and it ended up forming a caustic, poisonous gas.

I remember at one point and I don't know how I got there, I was driving in my truck on a road that looked vaguely familiar. It was in the pre-dawn hours, I was in a slight turn and in my headlights on the road, I saw something there. I must not have been going that fast, but I was able to avoid running it over. As I drove past, I had now saw that it was a young female, maybe in her late teens, early 20's, long dark mid-back length hair. It appeared that she had vomited something green and I couldn't tell if she was alive or not. I couldn't tell what her race was cause she was lying face down or away from where I could see.

For some reason, I didn't stop, I kept driving and a very short distance later, came across another female, about the same age, but this female was a blond with the same length hair. It also appeared she had vomited something green. I decided to turn around and see if I could help or check to see if both the women were alive and block the road so that anyone else driving wouldn't run them over.

It was at that point I woke up.

Since I couldn't get back to sleep, I decided to finish up configuring the radio in the truck and put one of the panels under the steering column back on. Had a couple of cigarettes and here I am now, writing about all this...

つづく ( To be continued... )

The Week in Review

For sometime now, I've been having issues with the Truck. It's a great truck however I've had this issue where when it gets hot or if I drive a distance, when I stop off and then try to start the truck to return home, it won't start. No turning of the starter, no clicking of the solenoid. So this past Saturday, my friend and I took out the starter and took it down to the auto store to have them test it.

The starter tested just fine and it appeared to be the OEM starter, so I decided to get a new starter anyway. I get home, put the starter in and my friend decides to remove the non-functioning car alarm. After all that was removed, get into the truck and turn the key... No joy. The power comes on for everything else, the stereo, lights, etc... but no turning of the starter. We double checked everything, got the tester out and tested for power.

Still couldn't start the truck. After working on the truck for 8 hours, we both decided to give up for the day. The next day, Sunday, I jacked up the truck and rolled under it to see if I could trace the lines to find the problem. I was looking right at it, and I'll explain towards the end.

I gave up and called the shop to pick up my truck to have them look at it. That was on Monday, after they picked up my truck on a wrecker, about 6 hours later, I got a call from the shop that my truck was ready. They told me that one of the wires was on the wrong post, not the one directly from the battery, but the other "ground" wire.

Funny thing is on Sunday, I was looking directly at the issue, I kept thinking that the wire was in the wrong place but because I was already tired, it didn't register in my mind.

Now a new issue has come up, not as critical as the truck not starting... the radio doesn't turn on, so I'll have to double check the wiring, it did work before all this, so there maybe a crossed wire or a fuse may have blown.

Ok, now I have everything back. I ended up pulling out the stereo cause it was bugging me and double checked the wires. I made sure I tightened the wire caps for the Ignition and the Power. Started up my truck and pressed the power button... STEREO! Now I just have to reconfigure the stations and the other settings, then it'll be done.

I also now need to replace the 5 amp fuse for the Instrument panel lights... seems like my work is never done... but I guess that's half the fun of owning a vehicle worth working on.

つづく ( To be continued... )

Battlefield 2

Here is my story since the clan I was associated with have since banned me...

I became a member in October of 2007 and have played on their maps, Ghost town and Road Rage. Due to the Holidays, I had stopped playing for about a month to 2 months. When I was able to continue, I was unable to log onto the Road Rage map.

I tried to find a solution but apparently because I downloaded it through a online purchase of the add-on, I was unable to re-install it or re-download the map. After much researching, I decided on purchasing a hard copy (buying the actual disk in a retail store). However since EA (Electronic Arts), stopped any further updates, they didn't have the stand alone copy of the Armored Fury maps for sale anywhere.

I had been getting an error and kick out of the online play by Punkbuster, a MD5 Mismatch in the Settings.ini, now I find this rather frustrating cause, no one had said anything or getting kicked off the clan back in May/June months. I would just stop playing for the evening and try again the next, or I would wait the amount of time it said and get back on...

So I decided on getting the Battlefield 2: Complete Collection, it took me about a month to find one cause EA had discontinued or ending further development of the Battlefield 2 series, I was finally able to find it.

So I re-installed Armored Fury and re-register my copy and was fine for a couple of weeks, then all of a sudden, I started to get the same message again. Now, this time, I get dropped by the clan I'm associated with. Several people, without getting the full information just automatically brand me a hacker/cheater and if that doesn't cap it, the Head of the clan will not listen to the explanation.

Prior to my being kicked from the clan, I had installed 3 additional mods, AIX, Reality Project and Nations at War. I've also installed another game called Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat. Both Battlefield 2 and Call of Duty 4 use Punkbuster. I've also re-installed Punkbuster and manually updated the files... Even after closing out my virus scanning software, I still got the same error...

I've been playing games online since the first FPS / Strategy games came out. Online, I know what happens when you hack much less care to hack a game to cheat. If I cheat, it's offline and offline alone. Besides, if I were hacking/cheating, wouldn't my scores reflect that I was? What frustrates me is that people are so quick to judge and they say that they don't, it's very difficult to dispute once it's in writing at this point and now, I don't think I want be be a member if this is going to happen, be it now or again...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Frustration levels rising again...

Just when something goes good, something else has to come along and drop on top of me like a 10 ton boulder.

I just found out the clan I was associated with in Battlefield 2 had banned me because of Punkbuster, which is screwing up and not me. I've always played by the rules online, even when other were not and now I'm catching the heat from that.

The clan members that once supported me when I first joined have all turned their backs on me, I'm really gettng sick of this two faced treatment, it happened before in person, at another job and now online... I'm just about ready to say Fxxk it and drop off the face of the Earth and society and just be alone... The only companionship and devotion I'm going to get is from Samantha, absolutely unconditional. I have no expectations of her and she, of me.

I'm tired, frustrated and burned out, I give more than my all, I care too much and work way to hard not realizing what my limits are and end up crashing because of it. Ask me what do I have to show for or prove it and I'll say - nothing.

つづく ( To be continued... )

My life as a song...

I've been relating to one particular song that was released in 1985 that was the title for the Movie of the same name, To Live and Die in L.A. Starring William Dafoe, William Petersen, John Tuturro, Dean Stockwell.

To Live & Die In L. A.
Wang Chung

In the heat of the day
Every time you go away
I have to piece my life together
Every time you're away
In the heat of the day
In the dark of the night
Every time I turn the light
I feel that God is not in heaven
In the dark of the night
The dark of the night

I wonder why I live alone here
I wonder why we spend these nights together
Is this the room I'll live my life forever
I wonder why in la
To live and die in la
I wonder why we waste our lives here
When we could run away to paradise
But I am held in some invisible vice
And I can't get away
To live and die in la

If I let myself go
And for where I just don't know
I'd maybe hit some cold new river
That led out to the sea
An unknown sea
I'd either swim or I'd drown
Or just keep falling down and down
I think it's that, that makes me quiver
Just to keep falling down
Down, down, down

I wonder why I live alone here
I wonder why we spend these nights together
Is this the way I'll live my life forever
I wonder why in la
To live and die in la

In every word that you say
I feel my freedom slip away
I feel the bars come down around me
And I can't get away
I can't get away

I wonder why I live alone here
I wonder why we spend these nights together
Is this the room I'll live my life forever
I wonder why in la
To live and die in la
I wonder why we waste our lives here
When we could run away to paradise
But I am held in some invisible vice
And I can't get away
To live and die in la

I can't get away
To live and die in la
I can't get away
To live and die in la
I can't get away
To live and die in la
I can't get away
To live and die in la

つづく ( To be continued... )

Changed mind, more new parts...

After much consideration, I've decided not to replace the bug shield that I was looking at. I've looked at other trucks that don't have them and I think it looks much better without one... so I may have to put up with bugs on the windshield or an occasional pebble hit on the hood... I'll eventually get the truck repainted, till then, it looks good as it is right now.

This past weekend I was planning on replacing my Oil Cooler Lines, I ended up getting something else cause I needed the gear ratio information in order to get the correct lines. The clerk at Checker Auto Parts was really helpful and gave me a website to look up *RPO codes that has that information.

*RPO stands for Regular Production Option

So, I'm going to wait till next weekend to pick up those lines, replacing them, that's another story, just looking at the location and where they hook up to, might be a long day to replace them.

What I did end up picking up was a locking gas cap, with the price of gas and stories of gas theft on the rise, I decided to replace my gas cap with a locking one. I know it won't prevent someone from stealing my gas but it's a deterrent.

This past weekend was a bit eventful. On Sunday, a storm blew through my area with Tornado sirens going off. Apparently there was a touch down approximately 10 miles west of where I live and it travelled in a north eastern direction. So, talk about dodging the bullet...

The amusing part was that I was trying to bleed my brakes, so I had my front and rear driver side tires off. As the storms approached, I rushed to get my tires back on like I was a NASCAR pit crew. Good thing my friend had air tools cause I wouldn't have made it in time.

つづく ( To be continued... )

and I thought computers were an expensive hobby...

Upgrading a computer can be an expensive hobby with all the different parts to get like video cards for better graphics, larger hard drives, more memory. That's nothing compared to a vehicle, let alone a truck.

Last weekend, I was repairing the bug shield/deflector by gluing the velcro dots that will hold it down. Well, the next day I went to go put it back on and had placed it on top of the garbage cans, the wind came up fast and hard and blew it off the garbage cans and fell onto the driveway, it broke exactly in half. So, last night I ended up removing the velcro dots off the hood of my truck. After removing those dots, I polished up the spots and looks ok for now...

I'll be looking for a replacement this weekend, I want to get the one made by Lund called the Interceptor II. A bug shield/deflector is much better than the hood bra.

つづく ( To be continued... )

New Turn Signals installed

New Turn Signals during the Day
Originally uploaded by TekBandit66

I purchased replacement turn signals since the original ones were getting faded. I got these through a company online called LMC Truck which they carry a lot of parts that either can't or are hard to find for older trucks.

As you can see here, it gives the truck a more aggressive look during the day and night. Eventually I want to replace the headlights with the same type since they are older and have small cracks in them. I also want to replace the front grill to an all black grill and I've been thinking of replacing the license plate holder to a chrome style.

つづく ( To be continued... )

This past weekend...

Worked on the truck this past weekend, took up the most of the day Saturday and part of the day Sunday. Swapped out the factory installed stereo speakers and put in some Pioneer's. I put in 2 way speakers in the front and 3 way speakers in the back. Unfortunately, all the speakers are 4x6's, so I don't have much of a selection for that truck and don't want to cut up the walls to install larger speakers. Besides, the speakers that are installed now put out some very good sound and has pretty good power.

Eventually, I want to install a sub-Woofer to get a little more bass, not a whole lot, but a little bit more than what I have now with the new speakers.

On Sunday, I picked up some color matched car wax to get rid of the scratches in the paint. I ended up heading to the car wash and washing the truck so that I could wax it without grinding in the grit and making the scratches worse. That took up half the day after driving my friends family to the theater to watch Ironman. After the theater, that's when I went to get the wax and my friend picked up some gypsum for the lawn where his dog had done it's business during the winter.

On Friday night, I went to see Ironman, if you haven't seen it yet, I would highly recommend you do.

I have more parts on order, so the next weekend might be busy again, got to replace the dash and bleed the brakes again. There seems to be a lot of air still in the brake lines yet. The next thing that needs to be changed it the mud protectors and the truck will need to go into the shop for service soon and the insurance is due in June...

つづく ( To be continued... )

Lack of Sleep, nightmares...

The lack of sleep has been getting to me, but right now there is nothing I can do about it. Well, at least during the week. I don't know what is causing it, either the job or the nightmares or the nightmares that is being caused by the job or what is causing the nightmares. Even if I try to get to sleep early, I keep waking up in the same length of time as I do if I sleep later.

The other morning, I practically bolted out of bed because of this nightmare that I had, which at the time I could vividly remember but an hour later couldn't. The more I try, the only thing that stands out was that I was searching for and found a bokken and that there was something I was trying to defend against.

Another consideration to my lack of sleep would be the secrets that I keep and the things that I have seen from my previous job. I guess the good news is that I don't hear voices telling me to do things and Samantha talks, but still can't understand a word she says.

つづく ( To be continued... )