Sounds interesting.

But this evening is dedicated to the overpriced tickets I bought for:



I did see the R40 tour on it's opening date in Tulsa, May 2015, but I suspect this will still be awesome to see. Girlfriend is also a rush fan, should be fun.

That's pretty damn clever.

Roughly 16 years ago, not long after I had moved from Cincinnati to San Diego, I was sent back to Cinci to do some updates at the Clear Channel (WLW / WKRC / etc) facility.

Long story short: on the second or third day of my trip, the hotel where I was staying (one of the largest in Mason, OH), caught fire while I was away. So, that evening, I drove up to the hotel, expecting to have a drink at the bar and then collapse into bed, and instead found the whole Warren Co. Fire Dept in my way.

To their credit, the fire had been extinguished by that point, so although there was no power, they did escort me up to my room on the top floor so that I could gather up my clothing and toothbrush and such and bring it down to my car. (I'll never forget that I left my cell-phone charger behind, and this was back in in the pre-USB days when every phone used a different charger. Took me nearly the whole of the next day to find a replacement.)

Did I mention that this was Labor Day weekend?

No, I guess not.

It was Labor Day weekend. So between that and the fact that it was about 9:30 pm before I got back to the smoking ruins, there was not a single hotel room to be had in all of Warren County. (Not that there was a lot of hotel rooms to begin with.)


Fortunately, I still had friends in the area.

Well, friend. Singular. Plus his spouse who kind of tolerated me.

So I called Scott & Sam, plead my case, and they agreed to let me crash at their place for a few days.


Now, here is where it gets interesting:


They'd been planning to go on vacation in a few days, and had been unable to find a cat-sitter. Why, you may ask? Because Mr. Bond, the middle of the three cats, had a heart condition which required that he be medicated twice daily. Specifically, by injecting about 0.5cc of gel from a syringe into his outer ear.


Have you ever tried to put a cat into a headlock and inject fluid into its ear?


Longer story shorter:


It turns out to not be as hard as it sounds, provided that:




So, yeah. Scott & Sam McCammon, I am forever in your debt for teaching me how to subdue a cat and squirt fluid into its ear. (I'll let you know if that skill ever comes up again.)

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...edf486525d.png



Maybe if you actually play the record, it doesn't contain the Rick Astley song at all, but rather some cryptic data / instructions which bode you further down the rabbit-hole.

(Yes, you can in fact have custom vinyl records cut for about $60. The label, of course, is up to you.)

By that point, I assume that the conspiracy theories would be approaching supercriticality.

I felt like exercising my brain.

Assuming 15 ft^2 per can of Rustoleum flat black:
2.5 acres = 108900 ft^2
108900/20 = 7260 cans.
Current cost of a flat black rustoleum spray paint can on Amazon is $4.27.
Total cost: 7260 * $4.27 = $31,000.20

Sounds like a financially reasonable thing to do.

Guess what..

A clutch job on a Ferrari Modena 360 costs up to twelve thousand US dollars.
Dealers charge over $300 per hour for labor.

Also,

They charge for the test drive after repairs.

Also guess what..

I may be replacing the said clutch on the said car in my garage soon.

The only part that scares me is "teaching" the TCU the new clutch SUH (Set Up Height), engagement point, and release position without using a SD2 Ferrari test device.

May Allah have mercy on your soul.

I will be interested in what this does to the stock price, since that impacts my yearly compensation.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/08/22/or...nd-safra-catz/

Behr sells a 5 gallon bucket of flat black paint for $94 at the Deep. You'd only spend around $9000 to achieve the low end of the coverage range. and honestly, my finger hurts after one can of spray paint. just dump buckets.

or if you're daring, burn the area and get maximum black before paint.

Rochester air show is this weekend. Yesterday, several Thunderbird jets were zooming around at lunchtime. Today it was a Mustang and a Corsair buzzing the area. Way cool.

The sounds of the piston engine aircraft is music. The jets, however, are much more impressive due to the sheer volume of noise and the speeds they go.

Part ramble part srsly. I bought the Dorman shifter rebuild kit off Amazon for my 1994. The internet said it fits 1990-2005. The lower boot is super short. I Google and see the OEM part is taller, just like the one that was on my car. I go to Google and search again and see other rebuild kits from Moss etc. have the short one in all their kits, and sell the tall OEM one separately.

What gives? The short one doesn’t seal around the stem like the tall one does. It’s loose and seemingly would spew oil right out the top. Do I have the wrong part, or is everyone just happy with using this weird short aftermarket boot?

Also, if anyone wants the new one pictured below, send me a PM, and I can mail it to you when the new OEM one arrives for me.

Thks
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...74da43c53.jpeg

The short one seemed fine on my 99. Interested to see if the OEM is still like the original. Post a picture when you get it.

I just used a CV boot on mine. Way cheaper, much longer lasting.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4536fed797.png

Tomorrow is the big day!

First day as a career firefighter! So excited to be responsible and dump money into a k-swap.

Congratulations, bud! It's been a long road.

Rick on, man. That there is serious business.

That’s great to hear. Keep safe.

Congrats! Old buddy of mine was a firefighter, saw some crazy and devastating stuff.

Be safe.

Let me ramble it this way..

18 days have passed since I got home from Madagascar, and I just recovered from the trip today.
Which means, I have both my ears functioning, present and accounted for.

Turns out I carried a stowaway with me on the plane, in the form of a sizable dead bug in my right ear.
Madagascar was not a pleasant experience to say the least...

I had serious ear issues while I was there. Major pressure, plugging up randomly, my own voice randomly echoing in my skull when I spoke, etc..
I chalked it up to a pool infection at first and used ear drops I had taken with me. They did nothing.
Came home, and went to the hospital (a very good one) the next day. The doctor was mystified at first because he could not see into my ear, and then he was properly horrified when he removed the remnants of a dead bug.
Copious amounts of fluid and blood had accumulated in my inner ear.
The second doctor, a very cool specialist put me on some ungodly meds for 10 days, and told me she would have to perforate my ear drum if the meds would not work.

So weird was the medication, I ended up losing about 14 lbs. A tiny portion of that was the fluid in my inner ear.

Things are looking up, and today was the first day I had two normal ears in a long while.

On a brighter note, my show received a Media Oscar, which is a big deal apparently.

I will be traveling to the Capital tomorrow to receive the award from the President himself. The award ceremony will be live on TV, on all channels.
This is a very good thing for the show, and my "career". Guess I am really a TV personality now.

Aaand, the car runs like a scalded cat. There is a bit of a boost dip between 5000 - 5500 rpm, but it pulls like a maniac at any gear, from any rpm...

Now that I am feeling better, I should post some Madagascar pics. (Next stop, Senegal / Gambia)