Stranger in a strange land

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Ma Blog‎ > ‎2007‎ > ‎

June

June 30th I got up relatively early, and replaced the door latch in the van, then set up my new work desktop system before taking Vic for her hang gliding lesson. There were a bunch of guys there, trying out new gliders that they've just brought back from the manufacturer. I think Vic's decided that she wants a Falcon, so we'd better start saving :o)
June 29th We packed 3 computers, monitors and a couple of office chairs into the van and headed back to Dave's, where we just killed time until the traffic wasn't so bad, then I set off home. The side door opened four times on the way home, but I eventually got back :o)
June 28th Dave's been trying to organise the purchase of a new car, but this has been complicated by the present owner already having a loan against it. So, we went to Palo Alto so he could fill in the final forms, and the bank could send the current owner's bank payment for their part of the loan, and Dave got a cheque for the balance to give the current owner. This was all sorted out, and the guy dropped the car off in the evening. I watched the kids while Dave and the current Mrs Kelly went out to get bread for dinner :o)
June 26th I took the van down to San Mateo for a week in the office. I was staying with Dave, but the plan was that I'd bring back a bunch of equipment, so it would be good to have the extra space. The thing was, the door latch (that's been popping recently) actually allowed the door to open. Twice. On the freeway. So I stopped, shut the door then started again. I've already ordered a replacement latch, but of course it hadn't arrived before the trip.
June 24th I spent time on World of Warcraft, then in the afternoon, we went to Craig and Dawn's for a party - Thursday was Craig's last day at the SPCA, as he's got a job at a local vet instead.
June 23rd I dragged myself out of bed and played World of Warcraft for a bit, hitting level 66. I then went out to the garage and changed the fork seal on the Hawk. It's still not rideable, as it needs oil (I had to go and buy some), but the majority of the work's done.

In the afternoon, we went to Rancho Murietta for Vic's hang gliding lesson, and were there until it got dark.
June 22nd I got the new speaker mounted in the driver's door in the van without too much fuss, seeing as I'd done one before :o)

I celebrated by playing a little World of Warcraft.
June 21st I got to pick up a runny babbit and drop it off at the SPCA, and then I hung around generally getting under foot. When we got home, I played some World of Warcraft, and got my warlock up to level 65 :o)
June 20th I decided to mount the passenger door speaker in the van. The thing is, the window winders actually skim the speaker grilles in the front door. Hmmm...
Now, everything I've seen says "use the original grille", which is great, except the original grille contains the whole speaker, meaning it's closer to 3.5" than 4". The new speakers wouldn't even come close to fitting in there. I ended up cutting the old grille down in size, and mounting the new speaker to it, then trimmed the mounting bracket for the new speaker to fit in the door properly. If this sounds like an unholy mess, that's because it is. It's inside the door, so you can't see it :o) One down, one to go :o)
June 19th I decided to fit some new speakers in the rear of the van. The grilles are a lot bigger than the old ones, so I had to wiggle it in one one side, and trim it to fit on the other. They're much better than the old ones :o)
June 17th I got up reasonably early, and finished unpacking the van, then decided to wash it. I then washed the Subaru, so it would be all nice and clean to drive around dusty fields when we went out to Rancho Murietta so that Vic could try hang gliding. We got in the general vicinity, then drove around in cirles on awful gravel roads looking for George, who was running late. We eventually met up with him, and all went well. I was expecting an hour or so, but in the end we were there until it got dark.
June 16th We woke up early at Camp Far West Lake in the van as the sun was streaming in. I then found out that when I'd fired up the gas portion of the fridge, I hadn't turned off the 12v portion, so the auxiliary battery was pretty knackered. Oopsie. Still, the little solar panel I have plugged in started to recharge it (slowly, at a maximum of 0.125A), and when we got home, I plugged the main charger in to top it off.

When the boat racers started to go out on the water and disturb the peace, we packed up and headed home. In the afternoon we went to see the pretty funny Shrek 3, then went home and just chilled out.
June 15th Vic took the old bed of Chloe's that Tana had adopted, and a few toys to her new home. Apparently she was happy to see her, and is settling in just fine. Sounds like we'll be dogsitting for a few days next month :o)

After work, we packed some stuff in the van and headed to Camp Far West Lake for the night. There was some sort of boat race going on at the weekend that we weren't aware of, so there were noisy racing boats running up and down while we were eating crisps and reading, but all in all it was pretty relaxing.

When we went to bed, we found that the little LEDs on the light switches are quite bright in the pitch black, so I'll think about that some more :o)
June 14th For the first time in what seems like forever, but is actually only since March, I went to the airfield and pulled the Rans out of the hangar. First I had to fight off the spiders, and then I couldn't get the hangar door to close. I left it open and cursed at the engine for a while until it gave up playing hard to get and started. As I was checking the engine and controls before setting off, a U2, was around to the East. Of course, it was gone by the time I got into the air. I did a few circuits before heading off for a little bimble, then came back to struggle with the doors again. I guess I get to call the hangar management people again, and maybe they can get them running properly.
June 12th Tana got adopted from the SPCA!!

I took the Hawk to meet Vic for dinner, only to find it had a blown fork seal. The other side from the one I replaced last year, obviously.
June 11th In the evening, I played a little World of Warcraft, and managed to get my warlock to level 64. Still need to do my epic donkey quest though :o(
June 10th I played World of Warcraft, reinstalled the misting system on the patio and shuffled stuff around until we could watch the excellent MotoGP race from Catalunya. We watched the CBS coverage, rather than the Speed coverage, basically to see what it was like. Fewer adverts, and the commentary was by Kevin Schwantz and some butt puppet who was reduced to reading out the information that was on the screen. Fewer adverts, but they used the same video feed as Speed. Speed use the Eurovision commentary. They had the same idiot directors, who show you the pits while the race is going on... I DON'T CARE. "And here's John Hopkins' girlfriend". Unless she's topless and dancing around a pole, I DON'T CARE. Jeez.

After the race, when it had started to cool down a little, we pulled the mountain bikes out of the ever more crowded garage and went for a little ride.

In the evening, we finished our 30th anniversary of Star Wars extravaganza with Return Of the Jedi.
June 9th I started the day playing World of Warcraft - my warlock is level 63 now, with a long way to go to level 64.
I then went to the SPCA for a while. Tana's still there :o(

In the evening, we ordered a pizza and continued the 30th anniversary of Star Wars extravaganza with probably my favourite of the series, The Empire Strikes Back.

The bad guys win :o)
June 8th We continued the 30th anniversary of Star Wars extravaganza with A New Hope, which didn't suck nearly as badly as I thought it was going to. It would have been nice if George hadn't screwed with the CGI effects as much. There are a lot of places where it wasn't necessary, rather just distracting.
June 7th We continued the 30th anniversary of Star Wars extravaganza with Revenge Of the Sith.
June 6th We continued the 30th anniversary of Star Wars extravaganza with Attack Of The Clones.
June 5th I started in on the refrigerator on the van again. I got it cold (or warm, depending on your point of view) using the 110V connection, then tried it again. It lit right up :o) Apparently this makes them easier to start, so I proceeded to screw everything back into place, and reload all the junk back in the cupboards. Job done.

Later in the evening, in honour of the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, we started watching the movies, from the beginning. Tonight was The Phantom Menace. Jar Jar still annoys the crap out of me, but we enjoyed the movie anyway.
June 3rd While Vic and Christina went to Sacramento to go to the Crocker art museum, I stayed at home and struggled until I'd dragged the refrigerator out of the van. I pulled the combustion chamber out, and dumped out all the sooty crap that's been collecting in there for the last 22 years. I struggled to get it back in, and decided to test it before I screwed it all back in. Poot, it still doesn't work. I can see the spark from the ignitor, but it's refusing to light. I retired to watch TV, play World of Warcraft and think about it.
June 2nd I went to the SPCA in the morning, and Tana is still there. I spent an hour or so hanging out with a very shy dog and the guy who wanted to adopt her - he's been visitng her all week, and they seem OK after she's got used to him. I ended up chasing down Matt, the director of operations, and getting him to let the adoption go through. One down... :o)

When I got home, Vic's friend Christina had just arrived from taking an exam in Sacramento to be a Forest Ranger. I don't know if this is so she can pack heat and shoot litterers, or something else. Anyways, they headed out to Sacramento for dinner, and I sat and played World of Warcraft.
June 1st Vic's father dropped in on his way between Oregon and Oklahoma. First time either of us have met him, but I was having a busy day at work, so we went to lunch, then they dropped me back to the grindstone and went off to the SPCA.

In the evening, fresh from my sliding door triumph of yesterday, I decided to wire up the immobiliser circuit for the alarm on the van. It only took me an hour or so, as I've been peering at things and asking for ideas on the van list. It doesn't scream for help when the alarm goes off (that just pisses people off...), but it won't start now. Triffic.