errantember

(knocks on wood)

The Metro and the scooter have both been running perfectly for 3+ days 40+ miles. I worked on the Metro today anyway, to further insulate it against future issues, but not because it Wouldn't Go.

Gonna take the Metro to Flipside. Then to College Station. Then to fucking Dallas!

You WATCH me.

I'm currently super annoyed at my Geo Metro. Two days ago I went outside to look into the occasional knocking and stalling it's been having recently to find the vehicle won't start at all. I have the factor shop manual, and have been working through the steps. I'm well past the point at which things should Just Work because I've made more than a token effort to fix things and have Spent Money. One thing that would really help is having an ODB II scanner. I have a code reader, but I need to see real-time data on things like engine air intake temperature, and all mine does is pull codes. Maintenance minutia follows:
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Today I:

Took action in my retirement portfolio before even opening both eyes or getting out of bed

Hung out with my Dad at Hot Mommas

Bought several 15-ft pieces of long-leaf pine, plus a few cedar boards, for under $11 at the Habitat Restore

Bought 9 tomato seedlings at The Great Outdoors

Responded to several important digital messages

Gave money to my roommate to pay for her ongoing re-modeling of The Shed into something more like a Building.

Weeded and watered the potato bed, which now has 5 or 6 vines breaking the surface!

Replaced the spark plugs and wires on my long-broken Geo Metro, which seems to have fixed it! The 38/54 mpg driving is *way* cheaper than the 22/26 mpg driving! Now I just need to get the scooter fixed, so I can resume my more regular 1-cent-per-mile commuting.

Treated said Metro to a much-needed bath, and bought badly-needed battery lugs for it, by *driving* it to the auto parts store

Ordered an ammeter to add to the instrument cluster on the scooter, which will tell me whether the 80 amp breaker, which is tripping every few miles, is actually broken or properly rescuing my testicles from plasma immolation

Fixed a Massive Plug in our kitchen sink. After plungers, disassembling, the p-trap, and the 15-ft snake failed to dislodge the clog, I had to resort to an expansion bladder, which plugs up the drain and forces water down the pipe. I had water coming out onto the roof through the vent, but I managed to get it cleared. Next time I'm renting one of those super-scary powered roto-rooter things from the hardware store that my roommate has informed me has put two people he knew in the hospital.

Called my Mom to discuss some important estate planning details

So while I have done about zero toward my next iPhone game today, I can now see that my earlier guilty feeling that "I didn't accomplish shit!" today is a bunch of malarkey . :)

EmberWerks: We do more after 10 AM than most people do all day

I got the official title to the Metro today, so it's 100% legal and 100% mine!

I've made it through two technical phone interviews and have an in person interview later this week for a great job that will make me a legitimate contractor and allow me to travel more.

I fixed the ice cream machine. It was leaking because it had several metal parts that were exposed to the mostly-salt-water freezing gel. I coated all effected parts with a heavy polyseal for floors, re-filled the gel compartment, and re-assembled it.

The blueberry sherbet is finally en route. It's in Phase One cooling in the freezer right now.

The paperwork for my Grandma's will showed up, and once everyone signs and returns it, I'll be getting another two months of money in the mail.

I polished my money frogs and dragons, and added a new gold dollar coin to the one in the kitchen.

I made a *lot* of progress cleaning up the remodeling garbage in the living room, and the floor looks great!

I'm learning Ruby, but promise not to become an asshole.

I made two repairs to the Metro recently, after having made the final payment for it (a total of $700 for a fairly well-known vehicle) and sent off the title paperwork for the third time.

First, I noticed that sometimes it was hard to get the car into gear, which worried me since trippedbreaker and I spent months replacing the clutch. However, I realized that the disengage for the clutch was in the *middle* of the pedal's throw rather than at the end, where it belonged. Two rotations of the tensioning nut at the end of the clutch cable, though, and now it works perfectly.
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The road first to auto-mobility and later to legality has been a long one for the Echomobile, the 1997 Geo Metro that will soon be mine.

MINE!

First trippedbreaker and I replaced the clutch, an operation requiring the removal of the entire engine. It was the first Major Surgery I'd ever done on a car, and completing it added a lot of confidence that I could do most of the maintenance myself if I owned one. That project started back when gas was $4/gallon, a place it seems on its way back to now, and a 50+ MPG car is good to own in that situation.
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Well...almost. :)

Auto-enabler trippedbreaker carved some time out of his crazy work schedule to help me put the drive shafts and wheels back onto Echo's metro. As usual, he did substantially more work than me. I had previously gotten the engine running again after months of no work on the project. Tomorrow I should be able to finish grounding the electrical system, airing up the tires, and giving it it's maiden voyage with the new clutch. There's still one tiny hose with a clip on the end that we haven't sorted out, yet, but that's the last thing I'm aware of that need fixing before taking it for a spin.