Life indeed sux. Lost wallet AGAIN...must be 2nd time in less than 3 months...problably more like 2 and 1/2. I can't beleive it. This time there are only two possible places it could have gone...bathroom at WSU library when I was involved in rigorous mediatation, or right at home, in the a.m., while I slept.

I beleive it must have been someone walking in the door while I slept. Hard to believe cause insomnia hit and I didn't knock off till around 5 am or so, but only explanation I have, because front door was wide open when I got up, right at 9"30, and rushing off to try not to be late for work. I also believe this because trousers I had on last nite, with the billfold in question was in living room (dont remember having them there) and 2 bux or so in change that I had as well as some parts store reciepts that were in pocket are gone as well. I just can't believe this. Dunno who took it, neigbors, mailman, some random dude broke and walking down the sidewalk....at least I don't have to add vengeful ex-girlfriend to that list...heh.

I had like $60 bux in the wallet itself. Change from selling some stuff outta the garage. Well, not anymore. =-( I was actually gonna eat REAL food this week. No more microwave burritos and water. Now I gotta get ANOTHER new liscense, ANOTHER new soc sec card, and ANOTHER new bank card. No new windshield for the 73...this month. At least they haven't hit the bank account, as rent is due at the end of the week. God, you do make Mondays Oh so interesting. The last wallet incident happened inbetween a sunday and a monday as well. Also right around rent time, if I remember right.

Barely missed being rearended during all this excitement too. Thank god I was in the other lane. Some chick in sunglasses and thinking she was cool (had the sunglasses, and was trying to get her smokes out) went and rearended another chick stopped at a red light and with her blinker on to turn. Less than a minute before some douche in a jeep decided to stop in the middle of the fast lane and make me slam on brakes before he turned on his blinkers and turn. "I don't have to use blinkers, I have a jeep".

Very frustrating. If I didn't have other stuff to worry about, I would be looking harder for some ass to kick. Any ass. Refrained from screaming at some old lady with arm in cast who asked for help with her locking gas cap....on a dodge aries/reliant. Would have been amusing if I did not recall doing the same to my aries. At this time of gas prices, not funny at all.

Hell, I should be glad I'm alive....whoever came in (IF they came in) to take wallet could apparently just as easy killed me in my sleep with my own damn samurai sword....or a kitchen knife, or a fork....

http://chrisives.blogspot.com/

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/9151/ben2long.htm

So I couldn't resist SOME links....sue me.

Must see Big Balls Live! No, I have not decided that I like men all of a sudden. (I love the ladies, not the laddies.) Rumor on radio has it that AC/DC is gonna go on tour. What better way to celebrate camaroism than going to an AC/DC concert? Still broke, being a computer nerd for this church is getting old. Most of the people are cool, but there are posers, (like everyplace) that get on my nerves. And there's also the fact that while I'm not getting paid a whole lot, I'm hearing constant complaints that I'm getting paid TOO MUCH. Old 'puter guy seems to have spoiled the place by doing everything for free and fixing husband's cousin's grandson' s pc on the weekends, etc etc.

I MAY not have a life either, but that is because of classes. No more freeloaders for me thank you very much.

Still lusting after a t-top 2nd gen. Maybe when I'm rich.

Now shopping for a car for my teenage sister. Dunno why, she has grown to be a self centered brat, and mom's "favorite", but she's still family. And she deserves better than being screwed out of the sweet car deal (97? Camry, aunt's, got new liberty) that was two years in planning until it fell through (NEVER do business with family) So I am looking for something cheap and ULTRA reliable, that she will probably break 2 weeks after getting it just to do the right thing. *sigh* I just hope my kid brother surpises everyone like I think he will. He's the only hope I have left out of all my siblings.

Other news: Not much. Had linkies to some pretty neat webcomics....

www.artbomb.net was one, other's I will have to dig out.

not a whole lot to say lately. Or if I do, I'm usually FAR away from a pc so that I can say it. Things are ok. Not good, not bad, just ok ;) I guess I shall report back when I have something important to say.....

Friends came down over valentines day weekend. I gotta say, it's pretty cool to have someone still able to tolerate you well enough that they still come by years after college is over (for them) I feel like I have a couple of xtra siblings....

Anyhow, no real new news. Trying to figure out what my future plans will be after graduation. I HAVE to get out of wichita. The plan originally was stay for another year and get my masters, then move. Family is behind this idea. With spring on it's way, however, I am once again getting itchy to get out of here. Want to check out kck or dallas area. I hear dallas area IT is starting to pick up again. kcmo is out of the question because of cost of living...at least so I think now. There is also the option in the back of my head of going to japan as a JET instructor. I would REALLY like that, especially if I could parlay it into something where I got to stay there for good. I was planning on pursuing this after master's program, but again, thinking of trying to pursue it earlier. I am also starting to get cold feet about master's program. I do not know exactly what a masters of management information system does, but it makes me think of data analysts, and that is something I have no real interest in. I enjoy hardware, networking (administration), security, and maybe programming. Those are the fields I'd like to tackle. If I HAD to, I definetely wouldn't sneer at an analysts job, or database admin. I just don't have any interest (or aptitude I think) for it. Still deathly afraid of getting done, and not having skills necessary to even get a foothold here. I used to be good, but in the last few years, I have not been keeping current with much of the computer field. Hell, I'm still running a 750 duron box.... The only cool thing is that I understand coding ALOT better in the past year and a half, and apparently have the patience to figure it out. C/C++ still eludes me on some things, but with more exposure to it, I think I'd be ok. Visual Basic is so fun and easy, I can understand why people tend to turn their noses up at it (and maybe anything else microsoft?) I've SEEN java and worked with those some, not scared of .php or good ol cgi either.

So, problem remains, what do I do after I graduate? Interestingly, my lease on the house comes up at the same time. I also have to figure out what to do with the camaros, and the truck. The 73 goes in storage, this is a given. The truck, much as I like it, would be for sale in a heartbeat. The Z is where I have trouble. I should sell it, but don't wanna. I know I wouldnt get what I wanted for it, nor is it likely that it would go anywhere except for maybe the dirt track or the crusher. It's just a car, but it's the closest thing I have to my dream car. Lately, I've even been wondering if I should give up on my dream of a t-top 2nd gen. God knows I fall over the 3rd and 4th gen eqivalents. they are everywhere. And, there is the gas question. Wherever I go, I will need a gas efficient car in very short order for daily driving.

So, not only am I broke, I'm worrying about my future. yah, I think I need to leave the cars alone for a while

Statistics still kicking my ass, but I did my best. Snow mostly melted today, then it got grey and started snowing early this eveing. Got rid of cable modem again. I HATE cox. will probably get withdrawal and get it again in a coupla weeks...but while I'm poor and got 3 vehicles to pour money into, it's not a priority. Gotta get a new pc too....duron 750 with mismatched ram and tnt2 card ain't cuttin it anymore....

Been a while, folks. Thinking about getting out of the car hobby for a while. Been spending WAY too much money. statistics is officially kicking my ass. I hope I have absorbed enuf over the weekend to pass the test in a coupla hours. Can't get icq2go to work here at the lab cause of the damn virtual machine. [charlton heston]damn java, and damn microsoft all to hell.....[/charlton heston]

Cant think of anything else important....it's cold, had to dig truck out of snow this morning, did I mention it's cold?

Zoom In!
Been a while since I updated....thought winter break would be boring...it's been anything but. I had been trying to figure out how in the hell I was gonna pay for camaro stuff and school (as usual) Now that I've decided to go ahead and get masters, I got a whole nother year in this boring town. I had been thinking of giving up on my dream of going to japan, and just moving to texas or kc or something. The more I think about it though, I think I'm gonna go ahead and take a leap of faith. I mean, it's unlikely I'll ever get the chance again if I give up. That gives me about a year to save up and prepare. I'm going to have to haul ass.

I have also decided that I'm tired of trying to live a normal life. I am and always have been an intellectual. Trying to be anything else has just gotten me in trouble. It's a given that I don't think like everyone else, and I'm different. Monday instructor summed it up for me nicely: You don't see too many folks like me trying to make a living as a computer nerd...never mind anything else intellectual. That really made me think, which is apparently a first in a great long while. Instead of crying about being bored all the time, I need to do what I originally did....LEARN.

Some other interesting stuff:

www.scottsain.com----My friends website, for his comic/graphic novel venture. Xmas present from me. Keep an eye on it, I expect some good things in the future.

www.rachthegoat.com---His girlfriends (and one of my other best friends) site, expect cool things from this place as well.

As I turn toward academia in earnest, instead of trying to hurry the hell up and graduate, the cars will probably be put on hold. I hope that will not be so, but we shall see....

Happy New year folks. Fever finally broke last nite, I think, and I have been antsy to get out and enjoy some of this beautiful weather we've been having the whole time I was sick. I was not able to get sloshed on new years, nor enjoy it in any traditional sense, but I DID double up on the nyquil and had a great nites sleep.

Local news, the head qb for kstate is being accused of rape and sexual assualt. This is happening in arizona mere days before they're supposed to play at the fiesta bowl. Oddly enough, the team has had no bad deeds on it's record, and is supposed to have "high standards" Interesting, huh? He hasn't been charged with anything, but everyone's dying to find out if he'll still be able to play.

Last nite, came across some intersting links. Mostly samurai and feudal japanese history stuff. I'm so very happy. Even though history isn't in my career plans anymore, I still love the stuff. Will post links later.

Haven't ranted in a while. X-mas was cool, I didn't have to kill anybody. Spent a coupla days with my kid brother, the youngest and most often ignored of the tribe. Now I'm sitting here sick from the flu that kid brother and sister were getting over. yeah. Saw a video at madmike's place today, about some stupid teeny bopper "import" folks. Mr2 driver was fooling around on a street, took off, turned, hopped the curb, BARELY missed lightpole and a yellow civic or something, then hit a VW or whatever it was. Stupidity at its best. Thank god I've never had much interest in the streetracing "lets sit around and pretend were grown up and cool" scene. Still broke, waiting for school to start back up so I can hurry and get these last 6 mos under my belt and finally get this frickin degree.

I THINK I was gonna put some thought provoking piece of personal philosophy here. I know with school out I've been doing a lot of thinking...been watching a lot of thought provoking anime....like .hack//sign. I have crammed in so much anime in the last coupla weeks, I'm almost sick of it...but not sick of manga, for some reason. In any case, I was trying to change the depressing tone my blog has once again taken...but now I have lost my train of thought. I believe that means its time for nyquil and some sleep. goodnite.

http://drgoat.blogspot.com/ Another random link that caught my eye when logging in today. On to the rant.

My main beef is with life itself, I think. Why does it have to be so damn hard, and why is it that so many people are always looking to pull you down? Not too many years ago, I didn't worry about this much, or if I did, I sure as hell didn't worry on it long. But then again, not too many years ago, I had books, videogames, and computers that I was always sticking my nose in, and didn't have to worry about bills, and stuff that I do now. I think, in the short path from my early twenties to my mid/late twenties, I've grown too cautious. When you're in your teens, early twenties, nothing can keep you down for long, and you don't really have a fear of death or failure. In other words, you're still stupid from being full of hormones. ;)

Yesterday, after relaxing and taking in a movie, I felt like my old "self" for a rare moment. It felt good. I think it is very true that if you can keep looking yourself in the mirror everyday, then your'e doing good. As an adult, I have tried hard to have some integrity, and to do the right thing, even if it bit me in the butt. Unfortunately, it seems not too many people (esp in Wichita) share this ideal. One thing I have learned since being here is forgiveness. Used to be if someone screwed me, they made a lifelong enemy. I learned the hard way that sometimes its best to let things go. At the time, I never understood that if I had the discipline to keep from doing stuff that was obviously stupid, or potentially hurtful of others, how other people could go right ahead and do that same stuff without blinking.

Now that I've got that feeling back, I've got to take advantage and do the most I can, while I can.

six months till I get my degree, if I can take the heat, and keep up. Cant afford messups or depression now.

Looking at some of my fellow bloggers site's today, and came across this :site It's in japanese, try translating it through babelfish Kinda tired, still playing catchup from sleep dep from last coupla days. Saw Last Samurai tonite, I liked it. It IS based on a true story, although I do no know/remember whether tom cruise's character was real. I kinda doubt it, but I could be wrong. Watanabe Ken was the man.

On a personal note (which is what THIS blog is for) I think that if I stop with the neverending waves of self pity and self doubt, I might get somewhere in this world. The past is past, so I need to stop thinking about that, as well. Had been going thru the motions those last coupla weeks of class, albeit with more determination and less self pity and depression than previously. I just gotta have faith in myself and my beliefs, try to be wise, and most importantly, keep learning when to shut the hell up. ;)

Finished final project, final project presentation, and final program project outline. All I needed to do was spend the last 3 days working on it nonstop. Take delievery of big block tomorrow. Have some things to worry about, but too damn tired at the moment. For now all is good with the world. Ja ne.

Way of the Samurai. Get it. Now.
Went to EB today with an armful of dvd's and ps1 & 2 games. Mostly classic stuff, and movies from the beginning of the year. I didn't expect much. Expected more than $25 lousy bux in trade-in value tho. Thus EB makes yet another game's butt raw. So, I got way of the samurai because I heard it was a good game from some reviews I stumbled across while googling. Get home with it, and nearly 4 hours later, I finally come up for air to write this blog. THAT, my friends is how good it is. Video game crack in it's most potent form. For those few of us who new and appreciated BUSHIDO BLADE, it is like that, mixed with some soulcalibur, yojimbo and just a dash of anime thrown in. I will refrain from reviews, or description, since that's been done already. All I WILL say is that as I play the game, visions of my fav samurai flicks dance through my head, and I can actually act like my favorite character (I liked Sanjuro) Anyhow, its a free system, which means you can do whatever you want, good guy, villian, etc. You can try being crafty, brave(and foolish), disinterested, whatever. Be warned, you will die many, many, many times in this game....it encourages you to die like a "real" samurai, bloody, but true to your principles, or not, depending on how you play it.
Other news: Saw part of the Battlestar Galactica remake today. All the reviews were right, it sucked. The 15 minutes I saw was mostly people whining. Not in fear for their lives....just....whining. "Our planet blew up, this sucks!" seemed to be the attitude. No one was grief stricken, it was like watching spoiled brats reluctantly reciting their lines. No shock, no horror, no togetherness. This shit is NOT Battlestar Galactica.
Back to the samurai stuff. While playing that game, I came to the conclusion that the "way of the samurai" isn't dead. See, the "samurai code" was just like our ethics and cultural mores of today. It didn't mean that all folks of the samurai class followed it, it was a summary of beliefs that everyone thought was the "right way" to live their life. Much like "good people" today pay their taxes, obey the law, and don't kill in anger. (yeah, right) In 1878, the way of the samurai had become pretty much illegal. The gov. had decided to shed their feudal ways and become a republic. If you were a samurai at that time, you either clung to your old ways, or you started anew. Anyhow, to kill a ramble of potentially epic proportions, I believe that my friends and I, twenty something college grads (or at least folks of college grad age) are our generations version of samurai: Upon graduation, or at least striking out to start our own lives, we lose the patronage of our "house" Our parents/family no longer care for us/are responsible for us. We must make our own way in the world. Do we embrace anarchy and bite, backstab, claw our way to whatever fate we get with ruthless abandon? Do we try to stay true to our own "warrior code" and value honor and integrity in a world seemingly chaotic and turned upon it's head? How do we live? What do we do? The last samurai (no I haven't seen it yet, dammit) of the late 19th century had to decide what they were going to do with their lives. In this age, with economy going crazy, prices, values (both monetary and psychological) in constant flux, there does indeed seem to be a parallel. In short, one has to choose to either FIGHT the monster (within?) or BECOME the monster. One must either help, hinder, or GTF out of the way....

I hate freeloaders. I dropped outta college and everything I knew to run home a hundred miles south because my mom needed me. All I've gotten in the 4 long years since is drama and b.s. from my family. When Ineed help, everyone is too busy. But when someone needs their computer or car fixed, all of a sudden everybody has their hand out, and I'm just supposed to volunteer my money, parts and time to fix their junk. I now wholeheartedly understand why so many mechanics are surly and antisocial. Nobody can be straight with you, everyone always has to try to find an "angle" or something. All I get in this town are people trying to get me to give them money for some investment, or women or "long lost cousins" trying to move into MY house that I've busted ass for. God help me if something happens and I ever get hurt...

Things are looking up tho. Delivery of big block is this weekend, and things are picking up in the tech sector. Maybe I can finally stop being "overqualified". Might have a chance at a programming job, and also might have a chance at a teaching job locally. If I stay here for ANOTHER year, that is. But, I think shooting for my master's is probably the best thing I could do. Gonna finish up on the stuff that I'm doing now, but I really think that's what I'm gonna do. After that, priority is getting out of this city at full speed. Tired of shady people trying to hustle me all the time.

Ok. paper WASNT due tonite, just regular old classwork. Thank goodness. Mainly usability survey for PGP stuff. Nothing much important happened, found out my instructor of the last month was a former classmate at juco. I don't remember the man, but then again, the class we shared was accounting. I remember nothing from accounting, except for the tortuous final. This was the mid/late 90's, so we were still doing accounting by hand. None of that computerized stuff. I also missed alot of class, because my student government meeting was at the same time. So, I was given video tapes by the instructor, and every night I would watch these things, go to sleep within the first 5 minutes, and wake up, and play it again, only to go to sleep...AGAIN. You could say that the only reason I passed that class was through osmosis and determination. I also don't remember much about that time because I was working 32 hours/week as a cashier at a dept store, 20 hours a week on campus as a computer nerd, time outta class doing student senate, carrying 18 hours at juco, and had a girlfriend on the side. Yah, I was an overachiever.....
usability survey seemed to be a project for instructors' master's program. I thought you had to HAVE a masters to teach there....hmmm.....Anyhow, master's program doesn't seem real bad, I may go for it. I better decide real quick, because program starts a month after my projected graduation date.....

Wierd....for some reason blogger didn't post my dec 7 post. Ah well. Nervous, because as I do my piddling bit of homework before class today, I see today as the last class on the syllabus. Hope to Goodness that's not true, because if so, I got a five page paper (that determines my grade) that I haven't even touched yet. But according to the syllabus, we have one more homework assignment, so maybe I'm wrong?
Good News: FOUND BUSHIDO BLADE!!!! Bushido Blade was the best fighter ever made for original playstation. Kinda like soulcalibur, but lots more realistic, complete with great arenas that looked like they came straight out of a chambara (samurai flick) movie. My friends and I would play this game for hours on end, just to see the cool deaths....;) They made a sequel, which sucked, of course, but that's not the point. I hear there's an (older now) game on ps2 called way of the samurai that sounds promising. There was another I found at EB that looked good too, but now can't find it. Will have to keep looking....

Winter jitters is killing me already. I gotta stay on course. Tired of being broke. Not liking the way my life is in general right now. Not liking my family much either ;) Reformats suck, just to let you know. I thought I was prepared, but after lending out so many times, my xp cd was scratched to hell, and so was the backup. Had to switch between the two to get back up and running. ONLY took me a whole day to find my office cd. NOW, I can't find my 2nd Initial D cd, and I'm tripping out. I know all I have to do is get them again, but that's not the POINT......Also tired out from all these allniters and early mornings....gotta get back on a regular schedule. So I guess I better go to bed now....

Just a quick, 5:13 in the GOD DAMN MORNING note: Clam Chowder in a can is very bad for you. Very, Very Bad. That is all....

In an "I hate hypocrites" mood, and was gonna rant about that today, but maybe later.
Right now it's 3am, and I finally got done reformatting pc. It's been needing it for the past 2 1/2 years, I just kept putting it off. Now, I really need to replace this sucker, but it has been so good and trustworthy, I dont really wanna. I got out of the endless rounds of upgrading when I started the car hobby, and even tho hardware is DIRT cheap now, I still am reluctant to start again. Maybe when I (hopefully) have a running camaro in the spring, I will see about getting some new boxen.....
Other news: Big Block is out of the machine shop! Now it merely awaits assembly and delivery....

Go Gozilla Go!!!
Still listening to my jpop.... New Initial D Stage 4 is supposed to come out (in japan) feb 04. There is also supposed to be a new movie....live action, I believe. So, I will soon have my initial d fix...along with millions other fans worldwide. Here's the link
I have also found out that jpop and especially eurobeat & para para (the type of music initial d comes from) is like $30 a pop. EXPENSIVE. They also have like 20-30 songs a disk tho. Depending on how long they are...still expensive. I swear, one day, I'll be able to get all this stuff, brokedness be damned.
Found out today mom finally got her spark plug wires and blower fixed. Now she has heat, and shouldn't cut out at intersections anymore. Hopefully I won't get anymore shrill 8am calls to come get her NOW when I'm still drunk and running on only 3.5 hours of sleep.....during finals week.
Starting to see GOOD cosplay costumes on some of the anime sites. Of course there are still many folks that look like they half-assed it (If you're gonna dress up as your favorite anime character in front of thousands of folks you don't know, at least TRY to look as much like them as possible) Still feel bad for not completing my kid brother's "dragonball z" armour. I WILL go to a con this year....no matter what. Considering getting back into larps and smacking people around with the ol foam sword again....but most probably not.
Sometimes I feel like I wasted so much of my childhood and adulthood trying to take care of my mom, and "do the right thing" It's really hard to relax and have fun sometimes. Especially when bills start looming. I know I'll never get lost time back, so I try to enjoy life as much as I can. Much more satisfying than being depressed on being broke (and trying to get two cars running) all the time. Last Samurai comes out tomorrow, and I know I MUST see that.
Still feeling hyped. Thinking about taking a drive and wandering around other humans. Not a good idea in the middle of Xmas shopping season, but being in the house doing homework all the damn time sucks.

Lost into the Night
Yah, unless you're used to engrish and jpop, that title probably makes no sense. Still, jpop music (most ESPECIALLY para para) is the coolest stuff in the world to me right now....kinda like a combination of old disco with modern pop. Indeed, there's been remixes to most of the famous american pop and disco songs in jpop somewhere. I am especially addicted to anything on any of the initialD soundtracks. I know most all of them by heart now, except for the battle stage soundtrack (battle stage is the last initiald movie....so far) As soon as I have a camaro running, I will be doing nothing but bumping jpop, day in and day out. Not too different, since that's all i did in my old toyota truck, even tho it was NOT a go fast vehicle. I'm especially excited now, at 6am, cause I knocked out around 6 pm, got up at 3, and been awake watching anime (Naruto, Full Metal Alchemist) and obtaining the Battle Stage soundtrack off my favorite P2P. Now I'm listening to the old intiald tracks that I've been listening to since 2000. Still not old. Had a break for about 4 months though, so that may be it.
Been thinking about picking up an import again to play with. Knowing I don't have money to fix the two camaros, this makes no damn sense, but hey, I'm a guy. I'm not supposed to make sense...just kick butt and take names. I'm babbling now, but very happy....finally have complete intial d soundtrack....yay! Later.

Shit happens....
Wouldn't you know, shit always happens RIGHT after you have a halfway decent day? Went to bed feeling nice and fuzzy around 4:30 a.m. Then get a call from mom promptly at 9a.m. 'Burb won't start. Was still drunk enough to say "I'll be right there" I KNOW it's just a spark plug wire, that she doesn't want to get fixed...along with her bad fuel pump, and the other day I saw her exhaust hanging down on the rear diff. She's tearing the poor thing up....Anyhow, inbetween the frantic "hurry up" calls, and getting my own beast warmed up, I finally get to the intersection (on the OTHER side of town) and then she's already gone. Just then I get the call...."Oh, it started again, so I pulled into the parking lot" Now, I'm hung over, pissed, and have to take a final in another hour. Great. I tell you, blog, it was a mistake EVER admitting to my family that I was learning how to fix on my own cars. I'm not gonna let the family screw me for thousands of bux of free parts and labor like with the computer situation tho. Enough is enough.

Edit: Got to class, and instructor is a no show because of car problems....interesting....

Magic Hammer!!!!
I stressed way too much over my flash class. Worried that losing all my projects and having to start over from scratch was gonna fail me. Far from it. Final is a take home test, and the projects, while a hefty portion of my grade, won't kill me. I am such an idiot. Well, now that THAT stress is outta the way, I can start worrying about my other classes, and what I'm gonna do to keep myself occupied over the winter. Thank god I didn't take an additional class like I started to.
Thru watching MUCHO anime over turkey day break, I have come to be once again amused by the way japanese folks pronounce english words. Some Fanboys (and Girls) think that honor rests soley with japanese of the female persuasion, but I think it far surpasses the gender gap. Some people, especially some of the "Engrish" crowd kinda groan, but I think it's kinda interesting how Western culture permeates japanese society and thought, much like Japanese thought permeates Anime fan & Otaku society. Wierd, huh? I went over to mom's house, and got to see Samurai III (That's the third part of the Mifune trilogy about Musashi Miyamoto) I had seen the first 2 many years ago, but had never quite finished the 3rd. It is mostly drama (dorama) and low (but not completely lacking) in the action department. Still a good flick to watch, especially if you're a japanese history buff.
Well, now I've done my homework, watched some tv, and blogged. Now it's time to get to the drinkin'

On the anime front: Onegai Twins kicks much butt.

Thanksgiving....The older I get, the less I understand my family. After I wrote the previous blog I felt it was a bit depressing, and it's not that bad...esp not compared to some...but still. In any case, Turkey day was alright. Went amazingly well in fact, for something that was thrown together at the last minute. "Hosted" by my lazy, alcoholic, freeloading great uncle, taken care of by his siblings. Hmm. I earned another bit of wisdom today....I re-learned that as an adult, or at least a good one, you gotta "suck it up" Never in my short life have I understood why people do stupid chit, or stuff they KNOW is harmful to themselves or others....Especialy when they paraded around their wrongdoings for all to see.
Yesterday at Turkey Day...and Today, at my great-uncles "Turkey Day Part II", I realized (again) that life is too short to let other peoples stupid shit stress you out. If I can just keep from forgetting that, I'll be a step ahead for once. That sounds really familiar.... I also keep forgetting the part emotions play in these things. I have been even more of a straight, no b.s. kinda guy than I used to be...because of all the b.s. I was forced to go thru. I usually don't think in terms of feelings, but right or wrong. Maybe that's part of my problem. Too much thinking. Sleep Now.

New update....put big block in shop. Found out might need new crank. Dammit. Been thinking that I think and pontificate too much. Dammit. Saw Beat Takeshi's Brother Pretty good flick, especially if you're used to foreign flicks. Just like Beat, my brother and I seem to care less about each other, and if it came down to it, bet he would run too. Sad, but not unusual in this day and age. Haven't been sad in quite a while...just disappointed. Good thing I've got friends...
Anyhow, been thinking I psychoanalyze shit too much. I will stop that. It always keeps me frozen when I need to be movin. Like big block...spent way more money (on BILLS dammit!!!) than I anticipated. How and the hell am I gonna pay for the big block? Just gotta work my ass off, I suppose. Been liking angry type music lately....system of a down, linkin park, monster magnet....
I gotta get done with school. That is factoid #1. Then I gotta get outta this town. factoid #2.

Sold 95 Tacoma last week, sad that I let it go, happy cause I can use money to maintain the camaro's and the new truck. Now I have: one new 350 short block, a running 1 ton truck w/454, a TTOP!!!! z in florida, and my "buddies" running tho not legally titled 75LT camaro all fighting to command priority of my limited funds. I am opting to pay bills, hold onto the cash as long as I can, and see what happens.

Near death experiences today: 1 older woman in a late model burban who decided going to her excercise class was more important than fixing her tail/brake lights (all of which were NOT working) and stopping dead in the middle of after school traffic to make her turn. I lived, managed NOT to run into her, and thanked my lucky stars

Near death experience #2: 1 teeny bopper chick in a late model saturn with g/f as passenger decided to mash the gas at the stop light, pull in front of me (81 c10) and play asshole by locking up brakes in middle of street nearly causing a 5 car pileup.
http://www.nastyz28.com/ubb/Forum16/HTML/019118.html

New plogger actually seems kinda fun to use now. I am maintaining in classes, barely (shouldn't be here) I shoulda been an engineer. Since starting the computer hobby, and now the automotive hobby, I am never happier than sitting down, drinking a cold beverage, and trying to figure something out. Maybe one day I'll even get paid for it.

Family situation is getting no better. If I can keep from spending all my cash on car parts, I would REALLY like to leave this place. Two car garage is still nice. Almost left it for a house that had a single & central air. I don't need no stinkin' a/c. I don't think the place is gonna get knocked down for the freeway like landlords claim either.

Whole lotta socio-/psychological/metaphysical chit I was gonna talk about today, but can't remember now. Maybe I'll post later.

Wow, almost a month since my last rantage...will have to change that. I realized today that somewhere along the way since I moved back to the hell that is wichita, I had forgotten my old motto of "fuck the dumb shit" I decided today that was gonna change.
Two things have been really buggin me the past coupla weeks. One was my classes. I had been stressing and losing sleep over my class up at friends, and ended up passing it. Fairly well too, even tho my last assignment was lost to the email gods. =-( Although I am still in recovery mode, I feel pretty damn silly for losing sleep for something like that.
#2) Promised, Plotted, and planned to go up to kc to see Kill Bill with my friends. Of course family and finances had other plans. This is not the first time I've ditched my friends at the last minute, and I'm feeling like an undependable ass. Especially since they have started coming down to see ME. My family acts like I'm headed to my doom every time I plan a trip somewhere. If I tell them I get peer pressure to stay. If I don't tell them, I get accused of trying to give everyone a heart attack. It is pretty damn sad when you have to sneak out of your own damn house just to have a weekend with your buddies. I imagine the whole family thinks I have a woman stashed upstate or something from all the b.s. I get. Yet another reason I don't kanar anymore =-(
Well, saw kill bill with my 10 year old brother (corrupting the young) and it kicked much ass. Also seen House of the Dead and Underworld in the past week. Do NOT see either of the last two. You will literally feel your intelligence (and standards) become lower....

made another realization today. I'm still thinking high dollar go fast parts for the cars, and
stressing over being able to afford these speed parts. There's nothing wrong with stock.
Even if the aluminum heads are sexy as hell. I'm running around in circles getting these things
runnig...again. Found a coupla 3rd gens that I might snag for daily driver.
My own insurance co seems to be trying to screw me. Must keep fighting with them
I've been bitching the last several years about wichita (and kansas) not being the place for
me. Instead of crying, I have been trying to do something about it the last several months.
Had friends over for the weekend, it was a drunken good time. We even got some work done
too. Laserquest was good. Mental note : If you have friends that are avid FPS pc gamers, it
is a given that they will kick ass at lasertag.
Mental Note: I do NOT need more project cars. No matter how exciting, it must be running..
at the very least. Mental Note: the Z WAS running before I took it apart.
It was very fun hanging out with the gang again. The only real friends I seem to have, that I'm
still able to keep in touch with. I felt a bit melancholy, as I realized over the weekend that it's
quite possible I might never see them again.....especially if I move to japan. If I do come back to
the states, I will be going to a metropolitain center...so I can actually find a job. poverty sucks.
Thank god I'm single. What would I do if I had to worry about a spouse or kids?

I've gotten really, really, really tired of either feeling sorry for myself, or being bored to death
and staring at blank walls alll day. I don't think there is much else I can do though, with school
in session (barely started, really) and work even if that's a just barely. And needing a car and any
other hobby I start or continue still requiring what I don't have: money. At least I am keeping fairly
busy with figuring ways to spend my cash wisely or get the things I need done on a budget. And the car
hobby IS fun when I'm not stressing....God, I shoulda been an engineer. Woulda had loads of fun.

Computer stuff was also loads more fun when it was just a hobby. That a way, it was just something fun
to do in my spare time. Now that I look for it for a career, it's not fun. Not boring or anything, but there's
a difference between spending an all niter doing something you enjoy, and spending an all niter trying to
keep up with techology that's ALWAYS changing. I think I kinda shocked my megagamer buddies, because
it's not so vital to me to have the newest games or hardware anymore. (I still feel embarrassed that my pc is
three years old now tho) I never told them even when I WAS a gamer that I actually beat very few of the games
that I play. I just play them till I get bored, and then got another game. Another reason could be that every time
I would get close to beating a game, something bad would happen, and I HATE starting over again. I have changed from
hardcore gamer, to run of the mill, to *gasp* a CASUAL gamer.

Another concern of mine now that computer stuff is career instead of hobby: Health. My former employer
had a triple by pass, and was trying to go back to work 3 days later. It wasn't his first triple by pass either.
Bad health is one of the things (besides cracking under stress) that you have too look out for in this field. You
are at the keyboard so much just for your job, you don't get much chance to eat healthy, or enteract with other
humans very much. I am mobile for work, and fiddling around in the garage. the rest of the time I'm sitting on my
butt (which is getting flatter and flatter) in class, or doing homework. I don't go to kenjutsu anymore, and there
are no gyms (for men) nearby. I'm very concerned about the health aspect.

Been helping my grandmother with clerical stuff at her new teaching job. After 3 days helping
out at an hour or so a piece, I can well understand why after 30 years of teaching she didn't
wanna come back. I saw more bullshit and office politics in those 3 days than I musta dealt
with in my 2 years at WSU. Made me remember that education was always a big money item in
federal and state budgets, and until just recently, once you got on, you were guaranteed a job with
the usd until you quit. I can see why petty-power-hungry clerk types would abound there. All I
ever wanted to do was help other folks when I was going to teach (grandma's influence). Looking
at all these would be mini-empire builders, I think my belated career change was for the better.
It makes me laugh now that I remember that I used to think being an instructor would be much less
stress than being a programmer or "hardware" guy. Same stress, if not more. And not alltogether
different, althou I woulda said they were both radically different not too long ago.

Still worry about real life application of my degree after I finally graduate. Can't do much
about that now tho. After I find a stable job, would like to continue in school for masters
(might as well) and maybe eventually try for that engineering degree.

In the meantime, I still LOVE to take shit apart and figure out how it works. MOre than that,
I love to BUILD stuff that actually works when I get done...would like to build a kit car some
day when I have the cash.

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

test

Life sux....was gonna put a funny, amusing, and ANTI-depressing rant here, since depressing is all I seem to have here....but been locked outta garage all week, and I can't even change my bloody oil till leasing company gets off their duff and gives me the garage keys which they shoulda given me a month ago when I moved in....
On a positive note, found a bit of help getting the camaro's runnin, and finally gettin off MY duff to get website up and running. Hope I can keep going with it.
On a another depressing note, job is playing out....will probably be unemployed by this friday ;-(

tune up fun: past weekend, I decided to give the daily driver PROJECT D a tune-up and oil change. I figured since the last time the plugs had been changed was 2 years ago at the dealer, that it was high time to get to it. Well, family life intervened ALL weekend, and I didn't get to the plugs till like 7 in the evening sat nite. Keep in mind that I have a little toyota with the I-4, and the plugs are straight down thru the top of the valve cover. it shouldn't be real hard, right? Well, that's when things went horrbily wrong. Plug one, no problem...plug 2, no problem....plug 3 was an iron bitch to get to, and had wires from the fi and the intake all over, around, and on top of it. No prob, go for # 4, then get back to it right? Get to #4, which is closest to the firewall, not hard to get to from the side, tho. Plug takes a while to come out...no prob...pop the next one in, and can't get it to seat....SOB, the thread is screwed....literally! The only other people that touched this engine were the service folks at the TOYOTA dealership, when I handed them 500 bux for their "recommended 100k checkup" 500 bux to tell me nothing was wrong, although an acc short had damn near started a fire in the car, and the bright orange check engine light was still on. "oh, but an o2 sensor and catalytic converter don't just die, sir....we'll reset the computer, and if it comes on again, let us know." light came on again 15 minutes later, and they were trying to get me to make an APPOINTMENT to take another 100 bux for an "engine diagnostic" What do I need a diagnostic for, if u already told me nothing was wrong? Being the only toyota dealership in the city, they can do this sort of thing, it seems....Which is why I've never been back. But that's beside the point. The fun really began as I went back to plug 3. As I said before, a whole bunch of other stuff was in the way that I didn't feel like taking apart, so I loosened, and pulled and prodded....and finally got the #3 boot off. get the plug out a little later, and am ready to drop the last one in. Getting dark, better hurry! Mosquitos....eating me alive gotta hurry! Hurried too much and dropped #3 plug in the wrong way....doh! what made matters worse....didnt' have one of those handy little parts grabbers to snatch it back out. No prob, call the parental unit (known as mom) "Hey, feel like comin over for dinner?" "WHY? why don't u wanna come over here? Is your car not running or something?" "look, are u comin over or what? i wanna borrow the car for 5 seconds!" get said car, go and get parts retriever. get back under hood....gee it's pretty dark. I'll just turn the outside garage light on....well, couldn't do that, cause I locked myself outta the garage! DOH! good thing I called the parental unit instead of walkin up the street to the parts store....walkin back twice woulda pissed me off! Back at the parts store..."gimme a shop light and an extenstion cord" "weren't u just here?" "ya, but I locked myself outta my @#$#% garage" "u look tired dude, grab yourself a pop" bonus. finally got plug in, and parental unit on her way home...all BEFORE midnite. Only in my case, does it take $50 to change ONE spark plug.....;)

Finally picked up 73....drove 3.5 hours up (redlining the bloody FORD out of the little blue oval uhaul), and about 5.5 hours back, 185 odd miles at 45 miles an hour...u do the math. Got home, then stayed up all nite moving out all the spare parts and....stuff that the guy have me with the car. Ignoring the fact that I lost a wheel on the trailer, and two hours trying to get outta my driveway onto a busy main intersection with said flat tire, the rest of the 73's trip to it's new home was uneventful. Then I spent the rest of sunday and monday moving, as I finally crashed sat nite. Just got done moving yesterday, so haven't had time to play with either vehicle yet. Had been considering selling the 80 in favor of turning the 73 into a real rod....but like all broke and lonely men, I think I'm gonna dream big and keep both (I can already hear howls of protest from the family...good thing I don't live with any of them) Got a cool little fiberglass hood with the 73...never installed. Still trying to decide whether to sell it or keep it....need $$$, but kik ass, and don't have another hood at the moment. What scares me most about having this hobby (besides the godawful prices you have to pay for stuff) is the fact that now that I'm getting into it (and it IS fun, most of the time), I find it hard to find anything else entertaining to do. This month I have played some video games....before that, I hadn't touched the old dreamcast or ps in months....Have some pc games I picked up months ago as well....haven't even opened the boxes....and I used to be such a game freak too. Don't really read anything anymore except for stuff that deals with cars, or with my next computer certification. It's scary, I tell ya. I dunno if I touched on it earlier, but having know nothing, good for nothing, moochin, freeloading ass 'carbuddys' (all of whom range from 2 -5 years younger than me) has been a frustrating experience as well. Besides the setback with the house, I was so desperate the week b4 last, that I was gonna rent a uhaul up in manhattan, drive up there to pick it up, and have a friend drive my truck while I drove the uhaul back down. Well, as I said, I was desperate, and I asked this chick who I had bought a coupla parts from if she wouldnt mind goin up with me, seeing as she lived directly on the way, and her old man could come too, if she wanted. I would pay gas and everything, just needed a body behind the wheel. Well, got a sure! on monday. So grateful, I am doing free tech support for this chick all week long to keep her p.o.s comcrap runnin. Oh, everythings fine till friday, tellin her about the car, chattin with her, asking about her old man, and offerin to help her with her car and everything (and I was sincere, dammit!) Friday comes, it's 10'o clock at nite, I'm goin thru final checklist with her, when she starts actin funny. Disinterested, wierd, as in when u take your wife or g/f to hooters or something. Hey, did u see that touchdown, honey? "yeah, wonderful". I'm feeling the vibes, but ignoring them, cause what else can I do? All of a sudden...."But I don't want to go" What? "I don't want to go" umm, do you realize it's 10 at nite, the nite b4 we're supposed to go? You DO realize, I've been working on this deal for the past month and a half? "yeah, but I don't want to go anymore, lol" Gentle readers, if you've read any of my other blogs, u will quickly realize that I don't have a very good temper. I get pissed easily, and I hold grudges...but that nite I was in top form. I didn't scream, yell or curse. I took a deep breath (I had really been expecting something like this...after all, there's a reason why this cock-teasing bitch doesn't have any other friends). I just took it in stride, and dealt with it. What else could I do?

problems, problems....had to reschedule picking up the 73 by a week, cause the house all of a sudden isn't gonna BE ready for another week....all this rushing about to move into the place and all of a sudden..."oh, instead of being ready to move THIS friday, can u wait another week?" !@#$. anyway, dude was understanding, all that's driving me nutz his having to wait before I can tear one car apart, and start putting the other together....although I know all I'll be doing is waiting, since I'll be having to buy tools and parts on the way. I'm in full swing for my next certification test too, just hope I can be ready so I can hurry up and get going on the mcse....last monday, coming home from work, noticed a dark patch under the 80....as the week has gone by, the patch has gotten larger. Seal has gone...!@##%$ dont know if it's the oil pan or tranny, but cause it seemed red, but the oil in the engine was pretty dirty in the first place (former owner just dumped more oil in with the old, I'm guessing) been too pissed to look and see for sure too. But it's been slowly spreading out, and it's pissing me off, which of course is making waiting to be able to tear it apart worse. Plus, I'm getting tired of ricers and rustangs, and even other f-body's and full size trucks buzzin by and messing with me in my daily driver....although I cant' blame them....a toyota minit truck with altezza's bumping techno with the sound of revving motors in it? the volume is coming down, and the altezza's are coming off dammit! at least until I can shove something decent under that hood....damn, I have my projects for the next 10 years or so, don't I?

It's Friday!!! Finally got carb back on Lucille, and will be taking possession of the house on the 12th...next weekend. Now I just gotta make sure that the carb isn't on backwards, and replace or repair the connections that I broke to get that old q-jet carb off. Even with all the delays for parts, I enjoyed switching out the carb, and am looking forward to finally being able to do REAL work to it...especially since the house itself may be a bit of a pit...Neway, the only hurdle I have left is getting the new car down here, then real life will be rearing it's ugly head, as I will have NO money for bills, and tags will be coming up the next month....NOT the best time to start job hunting which is what I"ll have to do as well. At least when everything settles down, I'll be able to update this thing with real technical info instead of rambling and babbling.