RAIN!

 Glorious RAIN!

Along with about 3" of snow that melted as soon as it hit the streets and sidewalks. Total precip as measured by my rain gauge was .29", which is really welcome.

SLW's bestie was sent home from the hospital today on "Palliative Care", so SLW is coming home tomorrow. The weather should be nice for the drive to DIA, as it's forecast to be in the 60's.

Enjoy the weekend, check your six, and stay vigilant, 

March Comes In Like a Lamb...

 Been in the high 60's, and we actually got some rain. .01" isn't much "rain", but hey, we'll take it.

Yes, I'm following Operation Epic Fury, and it's been a success so far.

 Yes, we lost three F-15's and six servicemen and women, and that's always sad, but our losses have been extremely low. God Bless and protect our Armed Forces.

Work on the Supra continues, with much "invisible" progress. I say "invisible" because you'll have to have a sharp eye to see many of the improvements I've been making. Two of the three engine compartment wiring harnesses have been completed, along with the wiring for the new headlight relays and electric fan controller. I'd like to pull the third harness out of the car, but I'm having trouble getting the part inside the car out through the opening in the firewall. It's got a BIG grommet in the firewall that's impeding it's removal, but I'll figure it out.

 

Seventy Degrees in February.....!

 And we've had exactly .01" of rain.....

It;s one thing to have very little precip, but with these high temps and high winds, it just sucks all the moisture right out of the ground. This is looking grim unless we start to get some rain. 

And SLW's BFF has been on chemo for the last few days. Her Doctors have told her she'll be in the Hospital getting chemo until this "Last Course of Chemo" is done, and she'll be released to home.

To die.

No other way to put it, and it's weighing heavily on my SLW. Her first husband passed from Mesothelioma, and now she's going through it with her friend.

Prayers are greatly appreciated..... 

Emergency Trip for Sweet Little Wife.....

 She's headed to California to visit a terminally ill friend for their last time.

They've been friends since grade school, and "MJ" is also the Minister that married us. She'd been planning a trip for the last few weeks, after the Doctors declared her to be Stage 4, with no hope for recovery. She'd been on chemo and radiation for the bone cancer for several years, and now she has leukemia. 

Her husband called last night with some updates, and suggested she make immediate plans to see her.

Say a prayer for her when you can. 

Ed Iskenderian Passes at 104.....

 Quite the guy. Made his first cam grinding machine form some other cast-off machines, and proceeded to start his empire.

 Picture courtesy of Hagerty Insurance, who has a nice write-up on Ed.

 Wikipedia has a biography about him. 

My first Hot Rod tee shirt was one from Isky Cams. 

Rest In Peace, Ed. You've earned it..... 

 

The Winter Wallop Contimues.....

 We haven't been clobbered like our friends 'Down South' are getting it. We've had 1~2" of snow and a bunch of cold weather.

 I really feel for those that aren't used to this kind of weather. Bundle up, and take care while driving. Better yet, if you don't have much experience driving in this stuff....Stay Home.

A Big Winter Wallop.......

 .....Has arrived. Woke up to a temperature of NINE degrees with a light snow. Been kinda-sorta snowing today, but we don't expect more than an inch or two.

It's the temperatures that are going to be causing some problems here, and combined rain, snow, and icy conditions for a large swath of the Midwestern U.S. 

So bundle up, keep warm, and just sit it out, unless you work outside, like my son does.
 

Cold and WINDY!

 The temp dropped 25* in 30 minutes last night when the cold front blew through last night.

And it's been pretty much 35* and 35 MPH winds all day.

And still no sign of precip......

Work continues on the Supra, and.....GASP.....I've started putting parts back ON the car instead of taking them off. 

I just might have turned the corner on this........... 

Picture for a Sunday Afternoon....

 Sweet Little Wife and I went to see Song Sung Blue with Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson.

What a sweet little movie! It's about a pair of musicians in Wisconsin who were the core of a Neil Diamond tribute group. I've seen Hugh Jackman before in films, but this was the first "dramedy" that I've seen him in, and he knocked it out of the park. It also had Michael Imperioli (Christopher from The Sopranos) and Jim Belushi in supporting roles.

Several days prior to that we went out to see Anaconda with Jack Black. 45 minutes into the movie I kept wondering when it was going to start. Really scattered film. You didn't care about the characters, the "plot" was really thin, and we got up and left. The best thing about the film was the box of Junior Mints I got at the concession stand.

 

And STILL no precip. It's been in the 50's~60's~70's for the last several weeks, and we're bone dry. I mean ARID.... The humidity has been in the 10% range, and with all the winds we've had the soil is desiccated. It was 63* the other day, with a Dew Point of MINUS FIVE. You're talking single digits for humidity. Drier Than a Popcorn Fart as our local weather guy calls it. Trees are starting to bud, and patches of grass are greening up. And we've seen very few Canada Geese this year besides the gaggle or three that live here year-round.

So stay hydrated, check your six regularly, and watch the skies........ 

Blogger Email Issues

 ARRRRGH! I kept wondering why I wasn't seeing replies to my comments on other blogs. Turns out something happened and it's sending them to a GMail address that I used quite a while ago.

Now I have to figure out how to get it changed back to my normal email address....... 

Happy New Year!

No plans for us, as we're watching The Grands so their Mom and Dad can go celebrate!
 

Merry Christmas!

 We'll be having our Christmas Dinner tomorrow, and tonight will be just The Kids and Grands for our traditional Sloppy Joe and Fries dinner tonight, followed by the massive tearing of wrapping paper as the gifts are opened.

 Wishing you all a very Merry CHRISTmas, and a Happy New Year! 

Winds, Round Two.....

  Friday is going to be particularly bad. High winds and <8% humidity make for extreme fire danger in the canyons and out onto the plains.

I've got the fence gates tied closed and braced, and anything that can get blown around in the back yard has been removed. 

Had a 1/3 cord of firewood delivered today and got it all racked in the garage. I "knew" how much a full cord is, but now I know how much wood is in a full cord.....Three times as much as the BIG pile that was delivered! Didn't have much wind left in the sails when I was done, but based on our past usage, I'd say we have at least two years of wood.

Keep those heads swivelin', and always check your six. 

WINDY!!

 It's been really windy since early morning here. We're seeing sustained winds of ~30MPH, with gusts up to 50 or so. The temperature has been ~60* most of the day so far, but geez....The Wind is just crazy. 

I-25 is closed between Wellington and into Wyoming, along with Rtes 285 and 287, due to semis getting blown over. Looks like the tow trucks will be pretty busy today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

We're headed up to the in-laws in Cheyenne for the day. Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Day Trip to the Ames Monument

 We packed and hit the road last week. Beautiful day, 75*, nice breeze......in Fort Collins.

By the time we got to the monument it was ~50*, and 25~35 MPH winds. And we were at 8250 feet, with nothing for miles any way you looked. Yes, windchill is a real thing.

The monument was built to honor Oliver and Oakes Ames, and sits at the highest elevation the First Transcontinental Railroad. Built between 1880 and 1882. The Ames Brothers were implicated with the massive fraud that went on during the building of the railroad.
 

Don't know which one this is, but the birds don't appear to like him.

 

SLW ducking around a corner to get out of the wind. Yep....not much up there.

 Interesting to see the tool marks from when the rocks were quarried and worked.

It was a fun little trip, and the drive North on Rt 287 is enjoyable.

AND Hermosa Road was freshly graded, so we didn't rattle our teeth loose once we got off 287.
 

Can You Say Radio Blackout?

 Youch! Haven't seen things this squirrelly in quite a while:

 

Radio propagation in the 3~30MHz range is pretty bad tonight.

Anywhoo....Back to the Basement! where the Fisher receiver is showing positive signs of life..... 

Painting Season Is Officially CLOSED

 At this point I'm calling it "done", for various interpretations of "done".

Still have some over-spray to clean up, and I have other areas that I want to spot-in, but Operation Paint Yer Wagon yielded some very nice results.

 

And now the scary part......putting it all back together!

 

Enjoy the upcoming week, keep yer head swivelin', and check your popcorn stocks. I have a feeling things are going to be interesting this month..... 

BOOOOO!

 Happy Halloween!

 

 

 

I have the candy dispersal duty, while SLW, #1 Son, The Kids and The Littles are out foraging for goodies.

 

Have, be safe! 

Big Updates to The Supra Files

 Wellllll.....SLW, The Dog, and myself were going to head up the Ames Monument in Wyoming last week, BUT....the weather forecast was for 75*, so I went out and "Laid Some Paint" on the Supra. We may not have another day like this for the next six months, so I've been wrapping up any work, like painting, that has a minimum temperature. I've already had to go back and redo some of my work because of poor prep before painting, so now I'm going by the book.

Maybe next week.....

 

So it's pretty frenetic around here getting ready for Winter. Got the yard "winterized", and got the house in Condition YOKE, and I reconfigured the garage so SLW can park her car in the garage.

So how did the painting project come out?

Better than I expected.

 

How it looked before.

 

 

And all three pedal assemblies have been rebuilt. Powder coated the metal parts, new bushings, lube, and pedal pads.

Clutch pedal before.

 The Three Amigos, Part II.

 SLW asked if they were some of the new parts I've been getting from Japan. Yep, they look that good.

Plenty more to do, but the pile of refurbished parts is steadily growing larger, and the pile of parts needing refurbishment is getting quite small.

 

Enjoy the beautiful Fall weather this upcoming weekend, and keep yourself in Condition Yellow while out and about.