Today, I think I learned and used a bit of wisdom. My transportation problems lately have
become a matter of interest for the whole family. Of course no one is stepping forward to
HELP, but it's a topic everyone can point and stare and gossip about. Instead of telling the
woman who birthed me to mind her own damn business, I listened as she gave her opinion on
what I should be doing about transportation....even tho she partially caused it in the first
place.. No use fighting it if it's gonna happen anyway, right? Wish I could be this wise all
the time....but then, I'd probably be married...;)


I gotta update this thing more often....for posterity, if nothing else *smirk*
I gotta bend over and get my cable modem back. I can deal with anything else except the
not having internet at my fingertips. Real Life sux.
Teachers:
It takes all kinds, I suppose. My grandmother recently got a new teaching job after being
retired for 5? years or so. After being an educator for the past 30, she swore that she
would never go back. But, the retired life hasn't been fun for her either. I can understand
not having anything to do everyday. Makes you wonder how housewives and welfare folks
manage. Or the people way out in the country. In any case, she is happy to be working again,
but already people in our moribund educational establishment are getting on her nerves. I
have had one brush with office politics...a 2 year stint at WSU. I swear that I will never
do another office job again unless the pay is pretty damn outstanding. There is nothing quite
like realizing that most of your coworkers have nothing to do besides sit on their ass and
talk about other folks all damn day....all while doing as little as physically possible. And
complain. Let's not forget about complaining.
More on Teachers:
I used to think that my lifes goal was to teach: Helping others acquire knowledge and taking
pleasure in the fact that I am helping others was my main goal in life. Besides learning new
tricks and things to do with a computer, I couldn't think of anything else that could give me
such a sense of accomplishment. Now, after having been in the "real world" for a couple of
years, I have come to realize how much of a naive son of a bitch I have been. In this day
and age, teaching has become the lazy bastards new dream job. It used to be that someone
with no ambition would get themselves a cush office job...perhaps in low level management, as
I can truly testify from my own experiences. Now, the job of choice seems to be the teaching
field, especially since teaching salaries, nothing to write home about, are now equivalent to
what higher paid office staff used to be before the advent of the modern computer age.
Why do I believe this: Because if you look, teachers for the most part don't even try to teach any
more. They are more concerned with their salary, and not having that god almighty bulletproof
lesson plan shot down. Instead of helping others to learn and excel, they spend their time
trying to get the most recognition for doing the least amount of work. After seeing the dog
eat dog world of modern education, it's a wonder why more teachers don't become professional
politicians.
Friends University
Any college is in the business of making money. The administration of any college could really
care less about "higher learning", instead they worry about "higher earning" It has been said
that pursuing a college education is only for people that cannot or will not learn a trade. In the
real world, you have to prove to a potential employer that you actually know real world use of
all the book knowledge you have learned anyway, so what's the point of paying for college? Why
not just buy the books and learn on your own?
Friends University IS friendlier than most campuses. No stupid parking ticket scams, for one. They
make up for it by costing twice as much as any public university in the city tho. And they are one of
the more "tuition friendly" institutions. I knew I was in trouble when the adult education recruiter
for my computer information systems program knew less about computers than I do. I knew I was
really in trouble when, on the few occasions I have gone to that office with questions, I was shooed
out of there with brochures thrust in my hands like I was privy to some dirty little secret that they
didn't want new recruits to know about. Friendly, and with smiles, yes. But no diffrent than
any other college.
The thing that really hurts isn't that tho. I REALLY don't like these frickin' groups. We are
a tail end class, hurriedly assembled and started inbetween a change of curriculum. 3/4 of
my classes have had nothing to do with CIS in a real world environment as has been advertised,
instead it has been more of a computer science/business management type setup, cut down into 6 week
increment instead of traditional 16.. Again let me say, I HATE these frickin' groups. We are 1/3 of
the way through our program, and we are still made to get in these groups and do "group projects" and
introduce ourselves to each other like we are just meeting instead of having been dealing with each other
for the past 6 mos. I am so tired of all this group shit, that I can't BEGIN to tell you how tired I am.
I can't just up and quit or refuse to do work like I used to tho. I'm not 16 anymore. It helps that
all of my class are professional computer people, and they must all be as disgusted as I am. They just
don't show it. But DAMN I'm tired of groups. There is one guy in here that is from New Zealand, is
a professional programmer, and has had to sit thru our beginning programming classes with a straight face.
Here in the USA, none of his degrees or certifications are recognized, so he has to start over from scratch.
The only job he has been able to find is as a lowly tech rep for cablevision. With their turnover, I can imagine
how fun that job is. In fact everyone in class is some kinda professional in the field already, just without a
college degree. How they can keep going on without screaming or with a straight face is beyond me. The computer
field doesn't pay like it used to....although I still like it and am quite sure I can find a decent job if I MOVE and
keep trying, I sometimes wonder if I haven't picked a no winner just as bad as that of history teacher.

Ah, what has been going on with the car. Found a place to take the big block in as a core, although I think the price is a little high, the warranty is good. This might mean the rs will get done before the Z. The Z is dirty. My god is it dirty. And I don't mean in a good way. 23 years of road grime and neglect will do that I suppose. I am just tired of fiddling with the car, and looking like I jumped in the labrea tarpits at the end of the day.
I had planned on slapping the Z back together since I am currently vehicle less, but all that gunk has GOT to go. The 73 is a much better slap together and go vehicle, even with it in pieces. At least the undercarraige is spotless, and all of the factory rubber is in better condition than my truck, which came off the line in '95. But that would mean switching projects again...ugh.
I think I can actually get them both running over the winter, which would be a good thing as soon my house will probably be torn down to make room for the mall or whatever they're building beside it right now. Too bad, that was a NICE two car garage. Good in a way, because the house itself, while nice does NOT heat OR cool very well. (no central air, very drafty in winter) Couldn't beat the rent tho, and I wont be able to get another place with a garage like that for that price anytime soon.
Updates:
Pulled pwr steering gear from z, cause of REALLY, REALLY bad leak. one of the gear bolts outright disintegrated when I was pulling it. Had fun getting another box, and then ANOTHER box. one 3rd gen 92 rs box, one supposedly iroc box, altho I think the yard I got that one from pulled a switcheroo on me.
CANNOT find new bolts to put the gear back on to save my life. Will have to go to yard again, or pull bolts from RS which I don't wanna do. Doesn't matter anyway, outta cash, and fall classes have started.

Trying new feature of blogger now. Also, if any of you check this portion of my site, I am going to really try my hand at site design, instead of throwing chit together, like I usually do. Also, I will no longer bitch and rant on this page, but actually provide you with news and updates on the fleet. That is all...

Got a lotta chit accomplished over the weekend. Got rearend put back in and bolted back up. Most of my time was wasted searching for scattered bolts. Pulled a coupla all niters and got that effin thing done. Now all I gotta do as far as that goes is torque everything real nice and move on to the front end. Picked up detent cable and new vacuum mod. for tranny. No place in town sells prebent line. Internet sells prebent line, but it's hiway robbery. I will have to face the music and bend my own. Tools made the rear end go much quicker getting back together than coming apart. I had the RIGHT tools this time which helped. tranny jack and electric impact were life savers. I dunno HOW I would have gotten tank and rear aligned any kinda quickly without them.
Now waiting for summit return to process. Praying I will be able to get front end done. All I'm gonna do is put new cam, lifters, timing chain on engine. redo lines to new carb. New (IROC) pwr steering box. that stuff's a gimme. I'm hoping I will be able to get someone to do frt suspension for me on the cheap. Not looking forward to effing with body bushings and all that other junk. But am quite prepared to do without, if I gotta. After months of hemming and hawing, I think I'm gonna yank the a/c. It may still work, but it's over 20 years old, and I don' t wanna deal with the drama of working around it to pull those damn headers again. Altho, since those headers are now dimpled...here we go again
So, issues to work out: tranny lines, FUEL LINE, d/s rebalanced& new hardware, remember to get new water pump. vacuum modulater line. Actually not that much to worry about. The car WAS in running condition before I freaked and tore it down, after all.
Damn ebay. I knew I shouldn't have, but outta curiosity, I looked around for taco parts to fix the truck while I was there. It seems as if I might actually be able to fix the truck for MUCH cheaper than I thought. Problem is, unless I sell the truck, I probably won't be able to swing bills for this month. In fact, I'm pretty much HAVING to sell the truck, in order to pay bills. I may squeak by, but dunno.

Whoohoo! New blogger debuts...the backend where yours truly does his work looks a little different, but not too much. Looks like just spit and polish to me, but what do I know?
Update: Working on the car, should have back end put back together by the end of this weekend. Summit's gofast stuff went back (Damn shipping hurt!) and I will soon be the bitch of a friend of mine. Can't whine too much tho, he will be selling me a bunch of stuff I eventually will need. Sleep is starting to become a stranger again, and I might be working 3rd shift (again) soon. That means that I will be conversing with and selling stuff to wierdos at odd hours again...At least I won't be bored. School is a clusterfuck, I won't get into that TODAY I think I finally have most of the basic tools that I will need for the foreseeable future tho. And harbor freight no doubt thanks me.
Praying I won't be too broke by the time b-day comes...as I plan to get shitfaced as I never have before. I have never totally cut loose...always been paranoid. No time like the present...
Must get car running, that is first priority, next comes worrying about classes, then worrying about bills. We will see what happens after that. I am also not worrying about front end stuff for now, at least not till car is running again. It sucks tho, as I wanted suspension taken care of first...but nothing will get done if I cry myself a fucking river, will it?
Since I'm spending all my money on this car shit anyhow, I might as well get totally into it. It's actually cooler in the garage (and basement) than in the house anyhow. So if I take my time, I won't die of heat exhaustion or anything.
I had some profound and witty shit to put on here when I logged in, but I can't remember now, after having started talking about all this other stuff...On a personal note, I'm reading Michavelli's The Prince off and on. Neat stuff, and not quite as cutthroat as people would have you believe. Now maybe I can find my book of 5 rings and tao te ching and actually finish the fuckers. Amazing what you will do (LEARN) when you refuse to let COX fuck you in the ass, and no longer have any internet at home...You accomplish more when stuff isn't right at your fingertips, I guess.
Comments work again for some mysterious reason, so talk to me....

update: Rest of the stuff showed up, haven't had any effin' time to do anyting cause of classes. So, i've been blatantly spending money on tools. Mom's burban went to the tranny shop yesterday, so she can have her gas guzzling vehicle that she LIKES, and i can have the solid, steady little wagon that she thought was too ugly and old. jezus, it's like i'm married, I tell you. never satisfied. Anyhow, owner of my camaro club had to pull his wife and three kids out of a flaming astro van the other day. So far, all kids and spouse have survived. I still can't believe it tho. I also went and picked up a big block a coupla days ago. 454, as a matter of fact. the guy i bought it from was a ford guy, who had no use for it, and hte guy HE bought it from had put it together and had no oil pressure on startup, so he yanked it and sold it. this was 4-5 years ago. Basically, the block has all brand new parts. i could sell it piecemeal, and make over twice what i paid for it...assuming nothing was trashed. But it looks in good condition.
I don't know what's up lately. Maybe it's cause i don't have time to be cool and laid back, but it sure seems like this is piss off the friends week. First I piss off some guys and gals that i hang with every so often, by telling the chick who was pissed at her b/f that i support whatever she was gonna do. Big mistake. All of a sudden i'm involved in drama, which i tell everyone i have no intention of continuing in. Then i got crazy, wierdo, freaky girl that i go on date with. Then I got to deal with my buddy who has worked at an autozone for the past 3 years, and still knows nothing about cars. yes, the same one i sold the hood to, if anyone is even reading these posts.
Did I mention open computer labs suck? I got people i don't know aguing with other people about the world about to end, and then coming over and talkign to me. Some old dude came ringing on my doorbell, and knocking like the damn police, shoved my mailman out of the doorway, and wanted to know if i wanted him to mow my lawn. Well, it IS almost a full moon, I guess. And I have always had this wierdo magnet thing going.
Classes suck. i have 3 touchy-feely classes back to back now. Speech...i'm sorry, interpesonAL communication (damn shift button wont work) I had years ago at butler...I couldn't stand it or the busy work that I have to do for the class, so I left early, and went to find out if I could get out of it. NOPE..."Here at friends, your program is a package deal. No matter how much it may hurt, you have to bend over for us for another year" then 2 more classes at butler, where I have to sit on my ass and listen to two instructors who love to hear themselves talk. Nice enuf people, and lecture is intersting (kinda) but SIX GODDAMN HOURS of sitting twice a week is driving me nuts...and with all the stupid busywork/community service, groups projects and all this other stupid kiddy shit, I don't have time to breathe, let alone work enuf to pay bills, or work on car. WHY, GOD????

Finally rented a furd taurus today. Gotta get around for a week till the camaro is ready. I may have to cut some corners to get it on the road as quik as possible. Not happy about it, but that's life for you. new cam and gaskets and coil springs came today, yay. Now I gotta wait for the rest of the shit to show up. Gotta get this stuff done...NOW.

Open computer labs suck. Especially when people panhandle and ask for rides in open computer labs. That is all.

New note to self...www.digitalexpressions.nu. Has all the stuff I'm looking for....I think. Also recall that I had a thing on OpenDiary.com YEARS ago, if it's still around.
New news: Went and saw one of my few good friends on his birthday last tues. Had fun, had lots of italian food in kc viva la buca de beppos! Saw the whole emporia gang, or at least the ones that were important. Had a blast, and made it back home safely. Next day, heading home from work (to find out there was no work) A couple in a 96 camry tried to turn right in front of me on west street. Couldn't stop, couldn't get over. Truck isnt TOTALLED, but import parts are expensive...even if it is 8 years old. What made it so bad is that the other drivers didn't see if I was dead or anything, they just sat right in their car like a coupla dumbasses, right in the middle of the intersection. My god, people are sheep. Then told the cops that I ran a red light! So I got the fucking ticket, I had to get the truck towed, and now I have a 125 storage fee with AAA because they lied when they said my insurance would take care of it. So it's gettin towed home tomorrow, where I will part it out, or let it sit, or trade it in or whatever. AAA guy had the balls to say if I signed it over to him, he would take it to a junkyard and get scrap for it. I know the thing was becoming a piece, but it was still running (even without a radiator) and he coulda made $1500 easy, if not more, if I woulda said sure. Thank god fiddling with cars has taught me SOME things. Like basic maintenence. So here I've sat for the past week, no work, no car, no prospects for a brighter life. I've been spending money I don't have to get the camaro running again, esp since the car I got my mom when I DID have a ok paying job has become a piece. She didn't like the wagon, so she didn't try to take care of it. A year without power steering fluid, or transmission fluid, and having my grandad break shit on it has not been kind to the poor car. It's in my name, AND insurance, and I cannot even borrow it without a bunch of drama.
What makes matters worse is that right when I'm having car trouble, my mom decides to borrow money from all of us to get an old 'burban land yacht....that doesn't drive. Oh it runs, and nice too. Good 87 all roller engine. Would go nice in one of the camaros. Tranny is shot. Mechanic she bought it from (our crazy lebanese family mechanic) says he can get a new one in there for 650 + 300 labor. So in addition to 700 for the car, she wants another g from all of us to get the trans replaced. I could do it, even knowling the little shit I do, and I tell her. Hemming and Hawing. Screw it then. So everybody's now REALLY broke. Another car that doesn't run. So I sure as hell can't ask for help, and I"m already getting close to chipping off rent money getting the car ready. Spending the nite over at moms house, which I swore years ago I would never do again. Yes sir, life has been very interesting. At least I can't say I'm bored anymore. Pretty much decided I'm going to have to quit my job too. Whatever else I end up getting back on the road again, it will prob not be as reliable as the truck was...or as gas effficient ;) I could keep the wagon and fix it back up, but no one wants to hear that. $400 for a car that has not even had fluid changed in 10 years, and has run for over one year with no problems at all...except when grandad tried to fix it....Just like he tried to fix the computer....I'm still the family's computer bitch too. Soon as I left yesterday, my mom called me up all panicked and pissed cause she couldn't get on the internet, and she wanted me back over to fix it right NOW. Same person who used to always tell me not to let other people do that to me, but the rules and advice never applies to her.
Don't know why I'm ranting and bitching tonite. Life actually hasn't been so bad, other than not being able to go any fucking where. As soon as the parts get here, I can start work on teh camaro, summer class starts tue, I haven't finished homework for my nite class, and I get my annual inspection for the house on wed. landlords---Im sorry property management still isn't doing shit, and I still get basment flooding a year after I moved in, after they promised it didn't flood (when I was looking dead at puddles) and after they swear they would get it fixed asap. I think now they know that I know they'll never get off their ass. Funny thing is, I'm thinking about buying the place, just so they can fix it, cause it's a nice enuf place....if it doesn't get torn down to make room for a strip mall like one of the repair guys said it might. Capitalism at it's best....
I should pull rank and just take the wagon....I'd never hear the end of it there tho. Besides which, family power struggles suck. Although I am being the bitch cause the bitchy, evil, single old maid aunt that nobody likes has been told that all this money has changed hands for my benefit. So next family gathering she's gonna be trying to get all in my business, and I don't get any benefits. yes sir, taking it up the butt for family....now that's love.
Speaking of love, I may have an honest to god date. No girlfriend yet, I thought that there were not near enuf intelligent or people that didn't set off my wierdo alarm in wichita for that. But I may have a date, and that's better than nothing. Getting into cars has not totally erased the fact that I used to be your friendly neighborhood perv. Not quite a manwhore, but I used to be a bit of a don juan. Well, that was when I was popular, I guess. Since I dropped girlfriend, friends, job and all that shit to move down here to take care of mom, who just wanted someone to bitch at, it's been one long, unending trip thru hell. Ever since I finally dropped the office space job, things have gotten better, even if I am bacdk to being DEAD broke. Maybe it's all an elaborate trap to get me to stay in wichita. I sure as hell hope not. But I got my friends, I got my car (on jackstands), a love interest, and I haven't had to move back home yet. Gotta be grateful for the little things. Hell, even as I update this thing, I'm writing a letter to a friend of mine who has just about had it with her boyfriend. I used to think the man was cool myself, but he became an ass. God knows, I haven't actually written letters since high school. God also knows that finger cramps suck. It's almost like I'm starting to think I have control over my life again, or something. I'm starting to act, instead of react. I might just regain my old self and whatever it is that I lost when I came down here yet. It beats sitting around all the time being bored and steadily getting older. I'm not 65...I'm supposed to be having fun, dammit!
Now, all I gotta do is be able to pay my bills, and get a coupla friends that arent losers, and I'll be set. Hell, I might even put up the fiction and e-zine and stuff I used to do back up. Seeing how I write pages of stuff on here, I haven't lost the joy of learning, teaching, or hearing myself talk. It HAS to be one of the three, but I haven't figured out which yet. It would be cool to see some of that stuff. Since I believe I am starting to outgrow my fantasy fixation, that leaves anime, samurai flicks and sci-fi. Especially cyberpunk sci-fi. Well, we'll see how the time goes. If I just get cable again (and stop my unoffical boycott of everything run by Cox) I might get more serious with this web stuff. Time will tell.
One of my friends who never gave up on the independent filmmaker idea we used to all kick around, has been trying and trying to get a crew together to start doing stuff again. It seems we are all still spread too far apart, but I think we'll be able to make it work one day. We have also jokingly kicked around the idea of starting up a porn company, in order to fund REAL moviemaking. Actually, I think he was serious. I'm not the perv I used to be tho, and don't think it'll fly. With all the free porn nowadays, who would pay for it? Besides which, I'm currently the only single one out of our circle of friends that I know of...although I havent caught up on gossip. And I'm camera shy *grin* He's also been looking for a good artist on a print comic idea he has....can't find any. Topeka truly must suck worse than Wichita. =-(
Note to self--maybe blogs should be for camaro only, another diary for bitching, observations, news. remember linkage page...get script so anyone can add link I believe I can make this all work together better, and not so damn static. DHTML is the future...

Camaro Man is done ranting for the day....THAT IS ALL

Note to self....tagboard...google it....most free...

God, I'm starting to hate technology. Now that I'm trying to find a way to make a living with it....sorry, missed the dot.com era, and the y2k stuff....I was busy doing what my family wanted me to do and trying to become a history teacher....dammit. Now I'm playing with some user feedback blog software....except that it all seems to be popup based. My link to one that wasn't popup is gone...such is the way of the web. I'm fiddling with this now cause i still can't get my c++ program working...dammit.
Programming isn't as hard for me as it used to be...maybe I'm finally starting to settle down and think logically. I'm still trying to decide whether I should keep all these free externally hosted programs, or put everything on the server. On the one hand, I save bandwith....on the other, I gotta do all this tedious multiple logging on....sucks. And I gotta imbed this code each and every time I post....sucks. I would prefer an imbedded type user feeback deal....but it does get kinda confusing when you're seeing that, and the archives, etc. Ah well.

Work continues to not happen with the camaros. I have started ordering stuff up tho. I will be dead broke...perhaps even worse than I was before, but I'll have a running car dammit. Malibu that I was looking at for sister is also up for sale. I must resist...I must resist... I will start putting up linkage here too, when I get around to it. I will put up the images on the website that were stripped when I imported it from old website to dreamweaver to frontpage to new server ;)

It will take a while, but eventually everything will be golden. Edit: Or not....damn comment back software wont work now. Enetations doesn't know how to fix it either....Says its something with blogspot....time to find another blog

Quik site update.Fixing broken links and images. Cars continue to sit. Another may soon join them. or maybe not. House may be getting torn down for mini mall. Still deciding on site feel. It will be quite a while, I bet ;) Getting rest of money for cowl hood, hooray. Messageboard is up, so talk to me. In other news....people suck. Do I need one blog to b*tch and moan, and another purely to report on car status?

Again, haven't updated in quite a while. But, good news. Have finally registered a domain name www.streetlethal.org. Didn't know they were so cheap now, or I woulda done it much sooner. Still deciding on layout of site, fixed broken graphics linkage today. No real improvement on car stuff. Have once again moved over to the 80, MUST drive a t-top Z. Can't take it any longer. So, plan is to order new front suspension stuff, radiator, sfcs, and engine stuff. cam, timing chain, etc. I am gonna put a damn tarp over the 73, and forget about it till I score a big block. Wasn't gonna eff with the z's engine any, but now that I've decided on my *new* course of action, might as well go thru it, and put a *real* cam in it. Hell, might as well pop intake to see if it might even be a roller engine. If it is, well....heh, heh, heh.
Money problems have once again kept me from fiddling much with either car. to top that off, I have found a cheap malibu for sale, now that the fox body stang I've been agonising over for the past 2 months is gone. Seems like the guy is the same person whose camaro (81 sport coupe) I was looking at with a friend a coupla months ago.
Speaking of friends, it seems that people in the automotive hobby in my area have none, with a very few exceptions. Everyone's either out to screw you, or make you do something for free, which amounts to the same thing. I need no more projects, but I can score a cheap 305/350 off of him too. If he still has the camaro, I'm in double trouble...parts car. Also, there's my step uncle. Man had come up to me talking all this "lets hang out" and "I've got my 82Z" finished chit. Then one day he decides he wants to act funny (he does that, I think he and my stepgrandfather are schizo) and start trying to talk shit (you don't know anything about cars, I know everything, blah blah blah) and cracking jokes behind my back and all that typical inlaw mess. Man's wife just died, and I know he has no other friends. If it wasn't so damn sad, I'd be MUCH more pissed than I am...and I was pissed.

Friends part 2. Had went to look at a 75lt for dave, the guy I bought the 73 from. I was pleasantly shocked and amazed to discover that the body was in near perfect shape (road dings, surface rust, but NO major rot or corrosion) Shabby but complete lt interior (and a PERFECT dash) guy that was selling had gone from 1g to 400, cost of car and engine he had bought. I was dead broke at the time (what's new) so was looking for dave, since he wanted to complete his "collection" of 2nd gens in every body style. So, I go home that night composing my email to dave in my head. Make the mistake of telling Phil, h.s. buddy of my younger brother, and my autozone parts contact about it. Next thing I know, phil has had g/f buy the car. The car came with a 2bbl 350 out of an old impala, complete with worn timing chain. the guy was including a 650dp, cd player, timing chain, and leaving amp (from previous owner) in car. title was a bit foggy, the man had never put it in his name. Phil, being the wise sage that he his, put car in gf's name, was supposed to go with the man to get the title changed over, and to pickup carb, timing chain, and other parts. It has been 3 weeks since, and phil has yet to pick up parts. Oh, but it gets better. car wouldn't start after he bought it, so he towed it home. car then started, so he had g/f drive it. timing chain finishes it's long road to breakage with g/f behind wheel. car towed home again. instead of getting aforementioned parts, or even paying the previous owner to do it, who said he would for original sale price of 500, phil says that he'll have ME do it. Apparently for free. Then the man rushes over my house, says he'll pay the $150 I'm asking for a fiberglass cowl hood that I had, has me truck it over to his house, then wants me to show him how to fix timing chain. Keep in mind this is late evening, like 20 minutes before dark. the man has no tools, no manual, not even an inkling of how to replace hood or timing chain. And he has worked at autozone for the past 3 years. Okay, so he finally understands timing chain is not getting replaced tonite. "Do you still want the hood or what phil?" "uh yeah, bring it on in" We get inside, and the man turns around and looks me dead in the face. "Can you take $100 now, and I'll pay you the rest next week?" I showed remarkable restraint. I didn't hit him or anything. *sigh* I did take the money tho. wrong move. Next day: I'm in the middle of my night class, and phone rings. On break, I check the voice mail, and hear a panic stricken phil who just COULD NOT WAIT to put hood on. "Dude, me and Nick tried to put the hood on today...and it won't fit! I don't know if we're retards or what!" Now I know this is not my problem, and against my better judgement, after class I went. Low and behold, the idiots had tried to put the hood on the stock hood springs, and freaked out when they couldn't get it to close. Had bought nary a hood latch, fiberglass hood springs, nothing. And no, had made no attempt to get engine fixed. Of course, everythings my fault. What makes it so bad, is that this is normal for most of the people I know. My stepgrandfather looked me dead in the eye when I was setting up a small network for his and my grandma's pc's. dead in the eye, told me I didn't know what I was doing, and broke it, yanking ethernet cables outta sockets, right in front of me. then hemmed and hawed and made excuses about being busy when he realized he had messed it all up. brand new switching hub, down the drain. Came back a week later, and caught him putting a phone cord in the ethernet port of gramma's laptop I gave her, and taking a pair of scissors to the pcmcia card cause the ethernet dongle wouldn't fit in the MODEM port. I got to deal with people like this every day. It's driving me nuts.

Jiminy, haven't updated here in a while. Only been working on website a little when I've been bored and had time...haven't had much of either, much less both. Car update: Yanked rear from 73, posi rear from 80 going in. 73 rear will go in 80, along with ANY kind of cheap running engine I can find, so I can drive it straight to the local votech. My plan is to enroll for classes over the summer and do the work myself. Lets hope I can actually do that. Leaf springs in 73 wanna be a bitch. bolts are spinning in mounts in the front perches, which I expected, but REALLY didn't wanna see. I got my trusty 14 dolla angle grinder (harbor freight rocks, when you can FIND chit there) and ground out the rear bolts to the springs...coulda maybe wd40'd them and busted the nuts loose thatway, but couldn't be bothered. ;) Will have to either depend on the buddy system to get a compressor and cutoff wheel to the garage to cut bolts loose, or rent one (for almost half the price of buying one, + getting cutoff tool) or buy one, which won't be able to do till next month. Also need new e-brake cable lines. Will use poly bushings from 80. Then I can go to front and worry about engine, etc.
Life in general: 1/4 of water in basement, still raining, good thing I'm paranoid, nothing of importance ruined except for FAVORITE posters. Need to look into renters insurance. esp for cars, god help me if tree in backyard fell on garage. Classes and work kikn my ass. Work has me runnin all over the state for very little pay, but it is almost the only computer job I've found in the last two years. I swear by all that is good, if I am EVER in the situation where I hire others, I will keep my promise to actually call people back when I say that I will. I was despairing of ever actually graduating (professional student, that's me) Now I despair of ever actually having gainful employment. I was actually doing better when I was in business for myself....no actual profit, but at least I was paying bills on time. Having a car hobby is NOT helping me in that department. Water and ramen for months at a time in order to save enuf doh to get parts is getting old. Thank goodness I don't have a girlfriend...anymore *sniff* ;) Speaking of which, have come across a 200 4r to put in 73 for GOOD price. Stock of course, unless I can swing the race prepped one. Yah, I think I got it bad. Oh, got t-roof and disk brake rear end too. rear I mighta got butt hurt on, (pun intended) but t-roof unless it is warped and I can't see it, was the right price. So, more parts for the 80, parts for the 73 remain much more difficult to find. quick note to clarify: I haven't yet sold the 80, although I've tried to a coupla times, still haven't quite gone thru. For what it's worth, I will keep hold of both of them for as long as I can. Workin hard to make enuf to keep both of them, but things continue to look grim. Going to school in the meantime to try to update my computer skills, as I had stopped trying to keep current for quite a while. History ain't even payin, at least I see computer jobs ONCE in a while...

Ok...update on CAMARO related stuff...I am yanking the drivetrain from the 80z to go in the 73 rs. Frankly, the rs is in much better shape body AND interior wise, and just plain looks more sexy. This has also brought to mind thoughts of selling the 80 again, which I would rather not do, but I dunno.... Bills are looming pretty damn heavy, and I could really use the other garage bay to keep snow and ice off the truck this winter. It would really suck having to scrape ice, esp when I finally HAVE a garage. the 80z is my dream car, the only thing wrong with it is it doesn't have t-tops. Have a lead once again on a t-roof for it, but would end up costing me another $200 bux that I don't have. Just don't know. My uncertainty is affecting everything else as well. dating...indecisive. job hunting...indecisive and not aggressive. You HAVE to be aggressive to find a job around here now, and I'm just not doing it. I KNOW I can't keep fixing on either car, let alone both until I can afford it again. Yah, it makes much more sense to sell the 80, I can always find another.

From academic to computer nerd, it seems that I keep picking the professions that leave me able to keep my head in the clouds and dealing with my own version of reality. I used to think learning about and from the human condition was fun, now I think it is utterly depressing. Especially now, when the slowed economy of our nation has many professionals scrambling for employment, and it takes a keen clear mind to make a living, I am still debating and comparing "my" reality of things, which is in stark contrast to the real world. No wonder I'm high strung.

Been fiddling with the *free* website, although still planning on hosting on my own pc sooner or later. ;) Have torn down a 350 that I got from a sorta local (hour away) drag racer. What's neat, is what numbers are left seem to be from the same year as the 73. Still haven't been able to tell what it came out of, but would be neat if it was original block coming back home. Water was in oil pan, but heads were off for god knows how long.
Been fiddling with the 80, since she's still my #1 girl. Still lookin to put t-tops on her, but t-roofs I have found have either been way too expensive, or one guy that has 'em has had me waitin 2 1/2 months with no pix yet. With new fuel pump, oil pump, & carb, I think I will have that "cutting out" problem fixed. I'm still kickn myself in the butt for having someone else do the brakes (got royally bent over) and moving the battery to the front, but I didn't have a garage at the time, and even less tools.
One thing I will say is that you know who your friends are when you're broke and don't know anything. I'm still broke, but now that I have a garage to work in, and at least a few tools, I now know more than either of the wanna be streetracer/gearheads that still try to hang out and swill all my booze. If they start inviting people over to see my camaro's one more time tho, there will be an asswhuppin. 2nd gens were rare 4 years ago when I first moved back here. Nowadays, they seem to have been passed down to spoiled kids who immediately tear the @#$ out of them (that's where I got the 80) or someone sells them for a rediculous amount (too high or too low) Most of the local 2nd gen owners I have met have been outright pricks too. The ones I saw at the moonlight madness car show were cool tho 2nd gens came out of the woodwork then! My point is that broke and barely keeping the bills together as I am now, I have committed to keeping my camaros. Even if one of them has to go, I will NOT be camaroless again. I will keep one (preferably both) no matter what happens. *grin* If I end up having to live in one, at least it will be hot, and be able to get me to the unemployment office and back in record time.
Currently, the 80 is closest to running shape. However, it is also the worst body and interior wise. If I had money, I would tear it down and restore(ify) Since I don't, my goal at the moment is to get them both running (or at least close to it) I have not fiddled with 73 much, been concentrating on the 80. Tried to sell 80 engineless (for a rediculous amont, I'll admit) and didn't get any takers. So, every time I've had a bit of extra $$$ I've gone and got the minor stuff (fuel pump, oil pump, throttle bracket) Now I'm saving for space heater and creeper so I can work after it gets cold(er)
The only thing I worry about, is not having EITHER of these cars in excellent shape soon. My fathers side of the family has a history of heart disease, I've had some uncles and cousins and such die at my age (25) While I am in good enough health, I get nervous about not being able to take either one out before I die. Morbid, huh? I worry about the things about as much as I would kids if I had them, I guess. I can't die before the 80's done tho. I promised my sister it would be fixed and shiny by the time she went to her junior prom. She started as a freshman this year, so I better hurry up! The 73 would probably go to my youngest brother who is 9 this month. Dunno if either of them would ever appreciate them, but hope that they would....

In world news today, the poor sob that runs this site decided to go back to free hosting to temporarily avoid the insanity that is running his own server. If customer service at the poor guys cable modem isp werent so darn sh***y, he would happily be hosting many hits a day (yeah right). In any case, I'm back to free hosting. ya, it sucks, but the uptime is something to be fairly satisfied with. In local news, lack of funds has kept both monsters from hitting the pavement. But that is what winter is for...saving up and buying parts!

Been fiddling with the 80z off and on, as spare change has permitted. And, after installing new tranny fluid and filter, which it didn't need (but playing it safe is cool), I discovered that the tranny gasket was trash, and the tranny pan bolts were less than hand tight....And I had been driving around off and on in this thing! I also found out that old qjet carb's "throttle ball" was a machined down door stop. I never really looked at it seriously before, and it had caused me many a day of consternation. Also been having a bit of time figuring out all the vacuum lines and such...at least till I accidentally found the digi pictures I took of it a few months back. I had originally thought that the reason why the car cut out at stops and red lights was because the carb needed rebuilt. Seeing as how the the vacuum line from the brake booster to the carb was nearly pinched shut, I thought this was a valid assumption. We all know what happens when we ASSUME, don't we? Well, when I finally drove the car home from my "buddy's", it did it again. A few days later, I started noticing a pool of oil getting larger, and larger, and larger. At this point in time, I got a bit depressed, after new carb, leaf springs, bushings and all, I just didn't have money to throw at it anymore. Well, when I changed the tranny pan filter and gasket, I finally took a look. While it seems like the rear oil pan seal may have had some blow by, I'm pretty convinced the oil pump is going. My "buddies" keep telling me that can't be so, but my "buddies" don't know jack. The way I figure it, even if it isn't the pump, it's cheap insurance against putting a hole in the block (did that once when I drove my old buick with a bad pump home, restarting every 10 seconds). The only thing I really fear is if I have already done damage to it, although I haven't driven it much, besides to the odd repair shop and back, I used to take it around the block once every coupla weeks when I lived in my apt. I have figured out that my electrical gremlins for the most part are caused by a severed ground. The main ground that goes from the firewall to the block was chewed thru in 3 diffrent places. While everything else has bite marks, nothing except the ground is all the way through. Right now, all I'm doing is wrapping up the little stuff: vacuum lines and such, machine and install block off plate, then install oil pan gaskets, seals, and pump, and it should be driving again. When i get that done, I can redo the top rear leaf spring bushings that were ignored last time, try to do something to the rear frame rails(bleach scarring), then concentrate on front suspension. After that, all that'll be left is t-top install, body work, paint and interior. The body work is my main concern, because cutting and welding will be involved, and it's not something I've done before. But there's a first time for everything, so we'll see how it goes. I have also decided that subframe connectors are a must.

test 3....trying to get blogger to work with my ftp server

test2