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Saturday, August 25th, 2007
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11:19 pm - Vrroooom Vroom!
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Stupid weather is hot again. Didn't want to do anything so sat around the whole morning. Decided to go fix my mom's mower in the afternoon. The drive belt slipped off a couple weeks ago, aparently the last time she mowed she pushed it around the backyard. Its a pretty heavy mower so wow for that! I got the belt back on it yesterday (twice actually, first time was backwards... oops!), but noticed one of the nuts that holds the wheel on was missing. Today went back and fabricated the little bracket that holds the axle in place (also was missing) and bought a new nut for it. The belt was slipping, so I tightened it and adjusted the drive tension and it now works like it used to again! Its almost 20 years old so it figures that the belt was slipping. I was nice and mowed the front lawn for my mom as well.
For all that fun, I got a free dinner again, yay for parents :D Also went for a swim/bath in the lake which cooled me down. It was a good distraction from all sitting around I've been doing.
On the way there I was playing with my car again, its quite fun to drive. I have to play with the timing and fuel pump a bit to see if I can lessen the smoke. Its usually ok, but if I floor it I produce a nice little smoke screen. Once the turbo kicks in it hauls some ass!! With the light weight it handles really well too. I can see myself getting a ticket one of these days... I got the interior light working the other day and quite happy about that. Still have to fix the wire that goes to the passenger side doors, but as long as the drivers side works its all good. I also had switched the bulb in the trunk light, but that hadn't been working, funny thing is it does... but only if the parking/head lights are on! I think I want to retro fit it with some sort of trunk lid sensor or a switch as its kinda retarded the way it works now. Though on the other hand, if I'm ever carrying a body in the trunk they'll be able to see whats going on ;-)
So that was today. Yesterday actually was pretty good too, got to play on my mom's kayak and then a friend from camp came over for a couple drinks last night. Of course after they left it was back to blah blah the world sucks... but thats another story altogether. The best news is that my apartment is the cleanest its been in a long time. The kitchen is sparkling, and the den doesn't look like a bomb went off anymore. Basically it hasn't been this nice for like 2 years since Jessica left. Of course I still have to clean up some stuff in the hall and a couple small piles, but its a damn impressive start!
current mood:  accomplished
current music: Cake - Going the Distance
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12:56 am - Depressed
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Camp has been done for a bit over a week.
I don't even remember the last time I posted, probably a while before camp.
I have no idea how many people read this. I think there is at least one, because they occasionally post and I read their posts. I wish more people read this, it might give me more motivation to write. But on the other hand, I also am not sure I want people I know to read this as its nice to just say whatever and not worry about it. So I imagine what I want is for random people to read it, maybe reply, but mostly I just want to get stuff out of my head.
For that reason I should definately write more. I guess I'll just through throw a couple brief things and try to make this pretty short. I keep too much in my head, I need to chat from time to time about anything and everything, so I hope to post more often for that reason.
So here goes the start of a brief recap of stuff:
Camp is done, wow... it was a bad summer. Too many new people that didn't know shit, or care about whether or not they or others knew shit. Way too stressful for me, I'd have to say I felt more stressed out all the time then ever before, and for way too many reasons. On the plus side, numbers were up and the evenings were entertaining. On the downside, we're not going to go there...
Mike and Heidi's wedding was awesome. Even though I risked my life and stressed myself to hell getting there and back, I had a great time! It was nice seeing the gang again :D
My truck is shit. The frame is shot, huge crack, and the front brakes are toast. Definately wasn't safe driving it home from camp, luckily I was back in ludlow when the brake pad fell out...
I'm pretty well broke, I'm not sure when I get the first paycheck from school, but its after I need to pay all my bills and that really sucks.
Happily the car is doing really well. Unfortunately I really should fix some other stuff I basically slapped a bandaid on, but until I do something with the truck (or get another one), the car is my only vehicle.
I have no clue what classes I have this year, and the fact that its probably going to be a couple of IB classes really scares me.
I want to buy a house. See above where I'm broke... Theres a place in Ludlow I'm interested in. Filled out the online form at the realtor page, the bitch hasn't gotten back to me. I'm not even sure I can afford it, but fucking A!! I'm interested, at least get in touch with me!
Here's the fun one, I'm terribly lonely. Camp is nice as I hang out with a bunch of cool people for the summer. But after camp, thats about it and mostly lose touch. Same goes with the friends I had from college, most of them are far off. Most of the staff people I'm friends with are also way younger than me, so that doesn't help either. Many of the staff this year were douchebags, one of the reasons camp sucked. A few were cool, and a couple were awesome.
I think I'm going to leave it at right now. Theres more I could say, and something else I want to say, but I won't/can't.
current mood:  depressed
current music: Blue October - Hate Me
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| Sunday, July 15th, 2007
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9:59 am - need a vacation....
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Week 2 of camp starts today.
Staff week and week 1 went ok, had to fire a couple people, and still struggling to make it work. I need some time to just relax, and it just isn't going to happen anytime soon. Been running around like crazy the past two months what with conclave, ordeals, the end of school, camp school, trying to get the Jetta on the road, IB training in Florida, and camp starting.
Still haven't had a chance to get the Jetta inspected, and my truck is getting very dangerously close to exploding. The frame is shot, the brakes are acting up, and the engine is telling me its unhappy. I don't know how much longer it can hold out and I don't have the time or money to deal with it right now. Not to mention my apartment still looks like a bomb went off.
The good thing is there are a few good newbies on staff, and a couple good repeaters. Luckily they're keeping me sane for the moment. One more than the others, but thats another whole story... One I'm not going to get into, for reasons I'm still figuring out.
I think I have like 2 weeks free between camp and the start of school. Just hoping everything stays afloat until then.
current mood: distressed
current music: Pachelbel - Canon in D
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| Saturday, May 26th, 2007
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12:59 pm - Vroom Vroom! *STOP*!
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Finally got the right tool to make the flares on the Jetta's brake lines. However the tool sucks and is a pain in the ass to use. I think I should have paid the bit more for the SK tool instead of cheaping out for the generic. Even then I'm not sure how much better it would work :-/
Spent Sunday-Wednesday afternoons working on the Jetta. Fixed up the tranny leak (I think) and replaced some of the shift linkage, but I think it actually made it harder to find first... Theres a lot of slop in the shifter itself and one other bearing thats not part of the 'usual' replacement kit. I'm going to see if the one on the parts rabbit is any better. After that and getting covered with dirt soaked grease (from the leak)... I wrapped up the brakes and did the best bleed I could by myself. I was so excited at that point, I decided it needed a test drive even though it was getting dark. The seat didn't want to slide into place, which was a royal asshat, and I didn't get it back onto the ground until after it was dark. But hey, it was test drive time!!
As usual it fired right up, and low and behold, doesn't seem to smoke once its warmed up anymore! yay! The clutch feels like it needs some lube, but damn! does it go! I had no trouble zipping up to speed, and the brakes worked, so it was time for fun :D Took it back and forth a couple times around the Jewish camp (it shares the same lake, basically surrounding my parents cottage) and had some fun. Got it up to ~45 and it handles pretty well. The steering is a bit stiff, but its old fashioned (not power) so thats expected. The brakes are a little mushy, so I think I need to bleed them again, perhaps with a second person, but they work so I'm happy :D
Bad news, the terminal cancer rust on my truck is looking to be terminal.. I was gearing up to redo the front brakes, but noticed a crack in the frame. Now I'm worried... really worried :(
More another day... so much to say, so little time... always forgetting to update!
current mood: accomplished
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| Tuesday, April 17th, 2007
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6:59 pm - Vacation yay!
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So its vacation week, yeehaw!!
Since the weather is sucking ass and raining since saturday evening, I've been cooped up inside unhappily cursing this bullshit rainy weather. I've had plans to get the Jetta on the road, but can't do a hell of a lot if its raining. This is why I really need garage space and it really is pissing me off!!!!
Since I screwed up the flaring tool I had (it didn't work right anyways, and modifying it was a bad idea...) I ordered another last week. Well it still hasn't arrived, and I'm going to be mighty pissed if the weather clears tomorrow and it doesn't show up. Matter of fact, I'm mighty pissed it didn't show up already, and mighty pissed the guy was extremely slow sending out the invoice and probably had his thumb up his ass for another day instead of shipping it. So that makes me upset too. Also ordered some more beer supplies, and that hasn't come yet, but I didn't order it until like thursday night/friday? so thats not a big deal really.
Stuff that has gone well: All the brake lines are bent, just waiting on the flaring tool to put the ends on. In the mean time, they've been painted to keep the rust away.
Did some stuff for camp, need to do more stuff...
Made a yummy lasagna, should go nuke some... :)
Today I did 2 loads of laundry, yay! just have to fold it.. boo!
Washed all the dishes
Washed the stove, wow its clean!
Washed the top and sides of the fridge, omg the top was horrible!
Have been relaxing and playing some more old-school video games :)
Time to eat that lasagna thats nuking, then off to do some wood shopping with my brother. Gonna build him a bookshelf!
current mood:  aggravated
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| Sunday, April 1st, 2007
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1:38 pm - HONK!!
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Work continues slowly on the Jetta. After wasting the morning sleeping and running around shopping for bits, I spent the afternoon fixing up a couple things. The exhaust was surprisingly easy to fix. The replacement part actually fit, and just needed an adapter to fit to the muffler. The only hard part was finding the right size adapter, but with my l33t measuring skills I had a good estimate of the diameter of the muffler taken from its circumference (who says math isn't used everyday?). I picked two likely candidates and like I thought, one was a perfect match.
Unfortunately, I didn't get much done on the brakes. I finished rebending the line for the front drivers side, I'm still wondering how the factory gets such a tight bend right next to the fitting. The calipers went back together with no problems, but I'm holding off installing them until I get the pin kits in the mail this week.
In my travels, I saw a clearance clamp style multimeter at Sears. I couldn't pass it up, and of course decided to play with it. The clamp bit means I can actually measure DC amperage, and do so easily. With this new toy I decided to tackle of the wiring problems, troubleshooting the horn. The connectors at the horns themselves (dual tone horn = two horns) were filled with dust and corrosion, that cleaned up easily and I tested the horns with a test wire, yup they work! Found voltage at the connector when the horn was pressed, but they wouldn't work..? 2 and a half hours later, the best I can figure is one of the connections at the fuse panel was corroded. They didn't look too bad, but the horn works now so whatever. Stupid wiring!
After that fun, I dropped by at my parents again to say hi. The sinkhole in their driveway has grown a little bit. I was planning on climbing in to dig it out, but the horn took 2 hours longer than it should have (grrr!). Did peek in with my dad and a flashlight. We found what looks like an old piece of tarpaper and rotted bits of wood. That confirms the theory that the hole was covered by boards. My mom thinks she saw a pipe in there too. Hopefully I'll get a chance to check it out next weekend.
The marking period ends Tuesday. I can't beleive its been 10 weeks already since switching classes! Aparently I'm doing a good job as Sue keeps telling me people have told her good things. I'm supposed to be grading tests right now, but damn I hate doing that. I should figure out some lesson plans too. Stupid procrastination. Oh well.. I guess its working out, though I need to do more planning work.
current mood:  chipper
current music: No Doubt - Hella Good
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| Monday, March 26th, 2007
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8:51 pm - Vroooom Vrooom! *big cloud of smoke!*
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Once again, I've not posted for a long time... but have some good news!
Since the weather was cooperating nicely on saturday, I again spent the day working on the Jetta. About a week or so back, I finally got around to replacing the fuel filter. Yah, it really needed it! Of course that introduced a bunch of air into the system, so it refused to even think about starting. After much deliberation, I decided to follow the advice of many online and put a primer bulb into the system before the filter. This is something usually used on small boats to prime outboard motors. Well it works wonders on old VW Diesels! Bunch of squeezes, cycle the glow plugs, and it fired right up! It stuttered a bit and died about twice, but then ran STRONG! It revs up real nice and holy shit did it pump out some smoke!!! A big inky stinky cloud filled the area, but once warmed up, I think its ok. Did confirm my previous worries that there is an exhaust leak, I'm hoping its just a bad gasket on the exhaust manifold, and probably not too horrible to fix, but the turbo will make that a pain in the ass :(
So thats some happy news! Unfortunately, the cheap little piece that holds the cable to gas pedal crumbled off, so that needs fixing too. Of course, thats a minor thing considering it has absolutely NO brakes right now. But a couple more nice days, and that should hopefully be fixed :D
Still need garage space to do the body work, but damn, I may still get this thing going! I'm looking to spend the better part of April Vacation working on it. So I'm praying for either good weather, or better yet, a garage to work in.
Time for din dins! Until next time, buh bye!
current mood:  ecstatic
current music: TV - Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe
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| Wednesday, January 31st, 2007
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7:43 pm - Once again, I've been too lazy to update
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Why I tend to go for months without throwing something up here is beyond me. I really need to share my thoughts more often and for some reason I'm just not in the habit. Then when I do post, I'm so longwinded its rediculously long! So I'm going to try and do this more often. We're going to start with a list of mini-blurbs of the past two months:
Jetta: nothing new, got some new parts, but no time or place to do anything
Pickup: more of the engine is together, too cold and lazy to do anything else
Christmas: excellent! spent a couple days at my parents. rest of vacation was spent relaxing. got some new cooking loot, some tools :D, and of course clothes... I also had a great tree with some interesting ornaments.
Trucky: goddamn springfield potholes! everyday I worry more and more that something important is going to fall off or blow up
Brother: he and his gf moved into an apartment. Unfortunatly it didn't meet my needs (no garage) and would have doubled my commute. so now I'm stuck here for an indefinate amount of time :(
My TV: the nice console TV I have in the den, and absolutely adore, is shitting the bed. the retrace lines are showing, which washes out the picture badly. its too big and awkward to bring somewhere so unless someone knows how to fix it and wants to come here, I'm aparently screwed.
School: wow! some things have changed! I had been getting more frustrated with some of my classes, while enjoying the E-block class that was actually going somewhere. I felt like I was about to crash into a tremendous roadblock, and then have just done a complete 180! Effective Monday, I was swapped with another teacher. More details will follow as the fun unravels....
Scouts: the lodge is struggling along, but things should be ok come conclave. lots of new and exciting news about camp this summer as well.
Beer: I finally got around to using the homebrewing kit my brother gave me last x-mas. it was fun and I made some decent beer. Its a bit too dark or bitter or something for my liking, but thats what I expected from the recipe it was. However, it tastes like beer and looks like beer so it was a success! :)
So thats a quick look at whats been going on. Anyone who still bothers to read this should poke and prod me to update more often and I'll try getting into the habit again. Right now I need to finish up dinner and then try to figure some calculus out so I might have some clue what to do for class first thing in the morning. oi!
current mood:  still alive...
current music: microwave beeping
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| Friday, December 8th, 2006
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7:16 pm - blah shoot me now
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Wow big surprise! I didn't update for like 3 weeks...
Lots has happened since then. That place in Ludlow we went to look at was really nice. Huge backyard, nice garage, and right down the road from here. It was everything I wanted (except the stove was electric :P ) We sent the application right in. And waited... waited... finally the guy called me back saying he had to check some more stuff then would call back and make an appointment with us. So I thought it was all good!!! 3 days and no call later, Ashley and Warren come over and say they're going to look at buying a house and don't want to spend any money renting. That puts me shit up a creek having said we were still interested to guy from the Ludlow place. Ends up, he never called me back and finally just sent a letter saying he gave it to someone else. That rightly pissed me off good.
Basically I'm extremely fed up with this place. Its a great location, and its charming, but the people downstairs fuck up the heat on a daily basis, the smoke and the smell drifts up and makes me sick, plus the small garage space I have, doesn't have electricity so I can't use it for more than storage.
Soooo right now I want to blow something up since I'm really frustrated with life at this point.
Good news:
My parents anniversary was yesterday (27 years I think?)
Finally started putting the pickup back together. Yesterday put the head back on, and if its not 'freezing my balls off' cold tomorrow, I'm start putting the rest of the engine back together.
ummm.. yah thats about all the good news right now
current mood: pissed off
current music: various bullshit mp3's
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| Wednesday, November 15th, 2006
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5:48 pm - Yah I know I never update...
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So once again its been too long since I updated. I'll try and keep this short though. I really ought to post more stuff, especially with so much going through my head these days. Would be a lot better to express it, then cram it all inside for eternity.
School is going well. The kids took a round of MCAS Math retakes last week. The ELA (english language arts) is this week. Most of my students thought they did pretty well. I'm split on my thoughts. On one hand, I hope they all did really well and pass. That would prove that I'm helping them. On the other hand, if they pass, they're out of my class, and who knows what troublemakers I'll end up with. I really enjoy working with some of my students so its a catch-22 situation. Also learned that one of the girls is pregnant. The gossip is she's not sure who's it is.. gotta love springfield!
Apartment search is moving along. Looking at a place tomorrow, maybe with my brother. He and Ashley have agreed to split a place if we find a suitable one in a location that works for them. The problem there is I like where I am, and maybe could go a bit further west, like Chicopee or Longmeadow area. But they want to be more east in the Palmer area, so it might be a compromise. All us want to be close to a turnpike exit so thats a plus. The place I'm looking at tomorrow is a 3 bedroom ranch in Ludlow with a 2 car garage. I did a drive-by last night and its in a really nice location. About 3-4 miles north of where I am now, down a few back streets so its a nice quiet secluded location, but still really close to everything. I'm really pumped about it and hope it can work out :D
Some happier news, I spent a good bit of time over the weekend working on the Jetta. Redid the battery cables, though I made one a bit short so might redo it at somepoint. Put the rear brakes back together and played with the e-brake, so that does work. I definately have to replace at least the brake lines in the rear, if not the stretch along the whole underside. I'll probably have to redo those at some point, but it looks like I can hold out until I get the time to really restore it (like in a year or so once the truck is happy and I fix up or sell the Caddy). A parts shipment came in today, so I have new brake hoses to work in with the new lines, might be able to do that this weekend. Replacing the battery cables worked like I thought, the engine now cranks much faster, and I made a couple big smoke clouds, but it didn't quite catch. I think the glow plugs need replacing. Good news is I have new plugs I was going to use on the caddy, bad news is they're supposedly a royal pain up the ass to replace. Basically the injectors are directly above the glow plugs, and from the top of the injectors are the metal fuel lines that obstruct the way. Then right in front of the mess is the injector pump. I can barely get a finger in to touch the glow plugs, never mind replace them. Looks like I have to tear it apart a wee bit to get at the glow plugs, but then it should fire right up. And since I'll be fixing the brakes up, I might actually be able to do a test drive!! (of course I should really put a drivers seat in for that huh? ;-) )
Some bad news.. Last night went to turn on the TV for the usual nightly routine of eating dinner and vegging out in from of the TV. Picture is all messed up, theres a criss cross line pattern covering the screen and the picture, while visible, is greatly washed out :'-( Luckily the older TV in the bedroom still works fine so I could watch HOUSE, but it doesn't get the higher channels. One good thing is I finally started attacking the giant laundry pile thats been collecting for the better part of a year. I got as many t-shirts folded up as I could find, and actually put them in the dresser thats been sitting empty since Mel moved out over a year ago. That was good and productive, but I miss my nicer tag-sale special TV. I'm hoping I can poke around the inside and wiggle a wire and it will be fine, but I have NO clue about electronics :(
current mood: hopeful
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| Sunday, October 29th, 2006
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8:21 am - Project Rabbit has changed... plus more!
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Since I'm definately a slacker... theres lots to report!
First lets tackle work. Its been going ok. Some days better than others. Grades close this week so I made up little progress reports for the students, and it looks like my grading scheme worked. The kids that should be doing well are, and the ones that haven't done shit are failing. I also got a whole bunch new students, some of which didn't qualify for the class so they left the next day. I guess we have to have between 30-50 students, and I only had 24.
Friday was a really good day though. The grading worked and it seemed like the students were happy with what they got, or understood that if they did the homework, they'd be passing. Also spent most of one of the classes working one on one with a student that actually was working on the homework and had a bunch of questions. Good news was she understood most of it, and was half decent at math, so did pretty darn well, just needed an extra bit of help.
I've decided I really want out of this apartment. Its been nice, but I just can't stand the fact that the people downstairs stink (smoke filtering up) and they fuck with the heat all the time. All last week it was like 75 in here, warmer yet in the den. Then yesterday it drops back ~68, which is nice. But I bet its going to climb again next really cold day. They don't know how to use a thermostat and you really can't constantly adjust steam heat to fight that. Plus, its now colder and getting into damper weather so I can do only limited work on the pickup. And my truck is getting ever closer to needing major work as well. I desperately need garage space with sufficient electrical supply to power my tools. Preferably heat. I guess I need to take the first step into actually trying to buy a house, unless I can find a suitable one to rent, but thats still not a great option. Problem is, I don't really know what that first step is, or if I can afford it. But I really need a dedicated workshop garage, not the storage garage I have. This was made even more clear last week, which brings us to the next point...
( Project Rabbit shifts focus... )
There was supposed to be a DARE COPE weekend this weekend, but the bad weather yesterday caused them to cancel. Its too bad as today is a lovely day, though yesterday would have been miserable beyond belief. Cold and wet in the woods is not fun, especially not if you're up a tree in the wind. They may reschedule for the spring. Instead I spent the day hanging out in the den watching the extra features on "The Fellowship of the Ring" and doing a bit of cleaning. I found a Home Depot gift card thats probably close to 2 years old from my brother. You figure I would have used it by now, but since I tend to only go to Lowes now.. I haven't really been in about a year. Decided I might as well go and find something to spend it on, and lo and behold! a decent trailer lock for ~$23. Thats a much nicer and easier solution than chaining it to a tree, and since I have a gift card, its basically free :D. Also played around with DVD burner and made up some copies of the OA DVD's I found at the September Ordeal. To go with the DVD's, I cleaned out the tattered paper box I've been using to transport my VCR and all the wiring for the projector and put it all in a nice shiny new plastic box. The new box is nice because its not falling apart, and its also bigger so holds everything a lot better.
Today I'm trying to figure out whether I should try putting the engine in the pickup back together, or abandon it for now and get the Jetta running. I think I want to work on the Jetta as it tends to waste time driving to my parents place on a weekday. And if I can get it running, oh that would kick some ass!
current mood: hopeful
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| Friday, October 6th, 2006
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7:13 pm - Fire alarms up the ass...
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Teaching at a school its expected that there are going to be a number of fire drills each year. Its one of those saftey things, and its usually a good thing. However, Commerce is having some issues, quite a few this week. The alarm has gone off no less than 4 times this week. Probably more like 5, but I wasn't really keeping track. There was also at least 2 false alarms where the principal said ignore it, they're working on the system. It seems like someone is pulling an alarm somewhere and its really annoying!! Like this morning, when I was just about to start teaching a class, and bam! it goes off! Some dickwad pulled the alarm in the hall outside my room. I'm pretty sure that was the same alarm that was pulled yesterday so someone is being a jackass. I'm lucky enough to have a classroom on the first floor and right next to an exit, so its not a long trip out into to parking lot, but its a major distraction and pain in the ass. Not to mention the time lost which isn't helpful considering the short time between now and when the next MCAS retest is. It better not fucking go off again next week or someone needs to get kicked out of school!
current mood: pissed off
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| Thursday, October 5th, 2006
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4:26 pm - I hate traffic!!!!!
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Things have been going okay lately. The weather has still be pretty nice so thats a plus. I'm getting really sick of dealing with traffic though! There's construction everywhere I go and its getting really fucking annoying. My poor old truck is going to soon fall apart going over potholes and bumps the size of watermelons. The dirt roads at my summer camp are better than driving through most of the construction around here. Not to mention some areas that are just plain poorly maintained (most of springfield?). Also, slow traffic was not ment to be driven though with a standard. At this rate, I'll either break or wear out the year old clutch. Between Ford's shitty/clunky clutch and weak engine, its very annoying and hard on my truck doing all the stop and barely go traffic. Not fun!
I can't even get away if I travel! Went down to Camp Alpine last weekend for the Northeast Region Outdoor Program Seminar and got caught in some icky traffic on the way there and back. Granted you pretty much drive by New York City to get there, but it was still ridiculous! Plus people just plain don't know how to drive. But anyways... the Outdoor Program Seminar was quite a bit of fun. I went for a completely new, never done anywhere before, COPE Facilitation session. Instead of having all sorts of different sessions over the weekend, the COPE one was the entire time and focused on some of the things there wasn't time to do during National Camping School. For the most part we talked about how we do COPE in our different camps and played all sorts of fun games. I learned a few new things and hope to use some of them at camp next year. Also ended up getting a bunch of free stuff, which is also cool and the food wasn't too bad so thats a plus. The only downside (besides the traffic) was the weather. It was okay on Saturday, little bit of rain, but mostly decent out. Sunday morning at 6am it decided to rain again. That pretty much blew the idea of taking down a dry (or mostly dry) tent. Instead I was left with a soaking wet and slightly muddy tent. The place where they had us set up tents was horribly uneven and muddy, it sucked. And the paths to the campsite were poorly cleared and not marked at all.
This week was a bunch of school busy stuff. Monday was a meeting for new teachers at the union. There was good info, freebies and cookies!!! :D yay for cookies! Tuesday was the boring extended day faculty meeting so that blew those days. I did however, get my tent dried out and put away and a little bit of work on Project Rabbit. Yesterday I visited the parents, but between showing them the cool free stuff I got over the weekend, and my mom talking forever about things, about all that really got done was moving the ladder to the next roof section.
As far as Project Rabbit goes, progress has still been slow since I keep working at my parents house instead of doing anything here. But I've skipped days when I get home late or the weather sucks so some has been done. In the past week or so I've pretty much finished cleaning up the head. I need to put the injectors and glow plugs back in but then it should be ready to reinstall. Tuesday I did some work cleaning up the engine block, I should do a quick reclean of the bolt holes and clean any residue off the top, but it should also be ready for reassembly. I do, however, have to clean the old gasket crap off the exhaust downpipe still. After that I should be able to slap on the new head gasket and get that all reassambled. Then once I get the brakes figured out, it should be driveable. I've figured out what welder I should buy, but still don't know where/how to plug it in unless I do it at my parents house.
So thats what I've been up to for the past week or so.
current mood:  annoyed
current music: Washing machine shaking around
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| Wednesday, September 27th, 2006
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10:57 pm - I'll be sore tomorrow...
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Spent the evening trying to put the gas tank back in the caddy. Man was that a fawking biatch!!!!! The fill tube wouldn't fit back onto the tank. Plus, the fill tube is stiff so it blocks where the tank goes unless its connected to the tank. So its a total pain in the ass to try and lie underneath balancing the tank and trying to connect the tube at the same time. To add to the fun, the exhaust is hanging down in just the right spot to rest on my crotch, not comfy at all. Finally after an hour and a half cramped up in pain and suffering, the tube slipped over the edge and wiggled its way on. Then it was fairly easy to get the straps in place and weeee! it held. The rest of the tubes slipped on easily, I just can't believe the fill tube was such a biatch.
Teaching is going okay, still not sure quite how to plan out the class, but things are getting a little better. We'll see how it works out.
The other dilemna is what to do. I love my apartment, it has charm and is cozy. The location is also near perfect, I'm close to lots of things, including the turnpike which brings me to anywhere not close. Downsides are the people downstairs are dumb and smoke (which filters up and stinks up my place from time to time). Also the heat is screwy, and controlled by the dumb people downstairs. The big complaint I have is garage space. I'm lucky enough to rent a bay from the landlord, but its barely big enough to store my stuff, absolutely no room to work on my truck when I need to. Not to mention the power here sucks balls. The only outside outlet is connected to who knows what kitchen and can barely sustain a light and radio. I've had a compressor for close to a year, but can't use it. I'm going to get a welder to fix up the rabbit, and at some point my truck will need it too, but theres no place to plug it in....
sigh... So I'm not sure what to do. I basically have no savings, so even though I can probably afford morgage payments, I don't have a down payment. So I might be stuck in an apartment for a while which really depresses me right now.
current mood: gloomy
current music: TV - Law and Order
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| Tuesday, September 19th, 2006
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11:25 pm - I got a job :D
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So I got the job! Yay for me! Now happily employed as a teacher for the city of Springfield. I'm working at the High School of Commerce teaching MCAS Math. I started last week working with another teacher until they got the class formed. Today was the first day I was working by myself. I have a computer lab for a classroom, its much bigger than what I need, but eh, can't complain there. And I even have 2 closets woo! The real good news is I'm finally getting some decent money! The class I'm teaching is more of a review. The students I have failed the Math MCAS and need some more help to pass and graduate. Its not the complete morons though, they don't make the cut for the grant. More news on the teaching as it unfolds....
In other news, despite the many interuptions of wet weather and being busy, I've made good progress on the painting stuff at my parents. So far I've done two of the sections, and got the third section scraped and primed with one coat. It will need at least another coat of primer, if not more in a few areas and probably two coats of paint. Thats probably two more afternoon/early evening sessions. I still don't have a clue on how to approach the 4th section. Its right next to the back door and over the bulkhead to the basement, so its going to be a royal pain up the ass to get a ladder there. Not to mention the second floor window thats also there and the chimney plus two plumbing vents are sticking out of the roof there as well. On top of all that crap, its a bigger (higher) section, so even with a ladder there, I won't be able to reach all the way up so that part sucks ass too.
My mom took me shopping last week and I got some new pants and shirts plus a pair of shoes and a belt. I need to get a few more shirts and maybe pants as well as another pair of shoes and maybe some ties. Stupid dressing up crap. Oh well, at least I don't _need_ to wear a tie so whatever. The good thing was she paid for the stuff we bought last week.
In completely unrelated news, my parents brought me and my brother out for dinner tonight. Went to Dominicks, and must say I agree with what Yogi says about the place. It was damn good! Pretty sure I haven't been there before and thats a darn shame.
current mood: accomplished
current music: Family Guy
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| Monday, September 11th, 2006
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1:57 pm - Whoohoo!
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I might actually have a job!
The principal from Commerce just called me back, and offered me the job. He needs to send all the stuff through HR, so .. as soon as here from them I'll know for sure!
YAY!
current mood: ecstatic
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| Saturday, September 2nd, 2006
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12:33 am - Still unemployed...
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So its September now, and I'm still without a job. Still waiting on more news from Springfield. They haven't gotten my CORI back yet, so when that happens I should get an interview and be a sub, but I'm still hoping for a full time job. I have until mid September until I'm broke, but could use the money as soon as possible. I have been kinda working for my parents, but only part time. The painting has been coming along, I think I'm done with the first section. The weather isn't cooperationg very well. It rained earlier this week and looks like its going to rain this weekend too. The good news is I haven't fallen off the roof yet, but did almost drop the ladder today. I also assembled an underbed storage thing for my parents and am in the process of putting up another outdoor light for them on the garage. Its a motion light that my brother got for him something like 10 years ago, and he never got around to installing it.
Tomorrow is the Monson Town Wide Tag Sale. I'm hoping it will be good pickings again. Last year I made out like a bandit and got some good furnishings and some other goodies. We'll see what happens this year. Its supposed to rain so that might be good or bad... Warren and Ashley are coming as well so it should be a good time no matter what.
Haven't had time to work on the Caddy lately, days with good weather I've been at my parents painting all afternoon, and I don't seem to be able to get up in the morning anymore. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to it. I was able to find some new exhaust studs to fix the two that broke, so as long as nothing else goes wrong, I should be able to start putting it back together. Looking around online I found a good idea for painting it. Supposedly thinning down Rustoleum and rolling it on with a smooth foam roller will leave a pretty smooth coating. Wetsanding and buffing it down will leave a shiny smooth surface equivalent to professional paint job. I might give it a try, the big question is what color? Leave it white or go for something different?
current mood: distressed
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| Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006
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9:36 pm - Cleaner, but more paperwork
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I've spent the past couple days cleaning things up a little bit at a time. Cleared the bottles and cans out of the garage, ended up with ~$29, not bad for a years worth of cans. Of course I forgot a box, so it will have to wait until next time. Also sorted the recyle piles in the kitchen. Have to make a run to someplace and get rid of it all. Theres a bunch of plastic stuff I have, plus several things of paper and some soup cans too.
The garage is looking a hell of a lot better too. There's floor space again, and you don't have to climb over piles to get in the door. Started a bit more work on the Caddy. Should be a new battery cable and some other wiring coming in the mail shortly so thats a plus. Also drilled out and retapped the two broken studs on the exhaust manifold. I'm not sure if I should fix the bent one or not, probably will though. Just have to finish cleaning the bits up and I can start putting it back together.
This morning was an orientation thing for substitute teachers in Springfield. Basically a new stack of paperwork to fill out, but it looks like a good prospect. I'll have to get on that paperwork tomorrow and try to get it in soon. I guess they do an interview after that and you're good to go.
current mood:  busy
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| Wednesday, August 16th, 2006
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10:29 pm - Yay for laziness
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I'm typing this from the couch. Wireless keyboards kick ass! Of course it helps to be able to see what you're typing... So, I finally got off my ass and dug out the spare monitor thats been sitting in the garage for well over a year. Add a milk crate, and voila! Dual monitors with the 2nd by the couch. Of course if I had ever set the coffee table, I wouldn't need the milk crate, but the coffee table is still happily sitting in the kitchen.. Like I said, I'm lazy ;-)
Trucky is fixed, yay! Turns out the alignment was fine, the axle just needed to be put back where it belongs. Also took the time to rotate the tires and lube up the front end.
Tomorrow I need to do a couple things. Definately need to clean up the house and garage, putting away the stuff from camp. But more importantly, start working on getting a job, since that would be a very good thing to do right now. Still haven't heard anything from Springfield, so I should probably call them. Then look for some other places to apply, or call up Lowes. I probably have enough to squeak through part of September, but then I'm dead broke, and thats not good at all!
current mood: indescribable
current music: TV - Modern Marvels -> Concrete
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| Tuesday, August 15th, 2006
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2:22 pm - Camps over...
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Camp is done for another year. It seemed to go by very fast this year, tooo fast...
So here I am jobless and home wondering what to do. Did some unpacking yesterday, but mostly just lounging around napping some. Feel better today, I've had a cold the past few days and thats been rather annoying.
In other news, I have to fix my truck yet again. About 3 weeks ago the alignment started to act funny. It got a little worse and from others observing, its as if my truck is going down the road at an angle, not a good thing. Turns out its probably not the alignment, just my rear axle is falling off again. Back when I got the caddy, the rear leaf spring mounts rusted out. I bought all four, but only replaced the rears at the time. Now the front passenger side one collapsed and the axle slid back on that side causing the truck go want to go down the road at an angle. Shouldn't be too hard to fix. It looks like the rain is drying up so I should go out there and start working on it. Hopefully can get it all done today without too many problems.
current mood: blank
current music: Evanescence - Bring me to Life
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