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Way too early for that! Saturday thru Monday here it's suppossed to be 84°, 88°, and 87°. I've seen multiple predictions that this summer may eclipse last year as the hottest summer on record. I hope not, but it wouldn't surprise me!
I forgot about this guy when I was tink'n about appreciations for writer poets performers... https://youtu.be/kElHR66Y3es
Sorry Keith, I haven't been able to check out Jamey Johnson yet, been running all day. Man, I absolutely love Alan Jackson, I have a very large collection of his stuff. Have you ever seen the video and recording of when he sang He Stopped Loving Her Today at George Jones funeral? It literally brought tears to my eyes. Here's the link if you've never seen it.
Another one that's at the top of my list of Country Performers is Garth Brooks. The man can sing anything. If you ever get a chance to see the movie/recording of his stage show he was doing at the Wynn Casino in Vegas, watch it. He talks and sings covers of many of the artists that influenced him, absolutely great, plus he's just plain funny as hell!
That's not a bad cover, and, as it needed to be covered then, that's perfectly fine. There's an argument that that song is the best country song there ever was as well. I think, to be a good country song, the song has to address loss and dealing with it. Rock and Pop are entertainment, as is modern country, rap, and all the fusions of those. Blues and Country are the flip sides of the same coin, different folks dealing with loss.
That's not a bad cover, and, as it needed to be covered then, that's perfectly fine. There's an argument that that song is the best country song there ever was as well. I think, to be a good country song, the song has to address loss and dealing with it. Rock and Pop are entertainment, as is modern country, rap, and all the fusions of those. Blues and Country are the flip sides of the same coin, different folks dealing with loss.
John - Can't say that I disagree with your categorization. I'd just add, there's a ****-ton of Classic Rock that was written/sung about depression, oppression, and loss. It just does it in an edgier, more kick em in the ***** way than Country.
Boy I haven't seen this time of the morning for awhile. Especially voluntarily. Eh, easy money. If I stayed home, It would be at least noon before I was done with the Awful house and my airport.
So I'm working on the blue van yesterday, had to put in a little ATF, and I close the hood. Then I remember, I need to add a little water. Go to open the hood again, and the cable breaks. Now how the heck am I supposed get the hood open? This afternoon I'll see if I can reach up from underneath and flip the latch. Either that or take the grille out.
I haven't watched a country awards show for a long time. One time Alan Jackson got some award and his acceptance speech went so long they cut him off to go to commercial.
Time to do something. Hope everyone has a good weekend.
Thanks Norm. Would be a lot easier than taking half the car apart.
Doing well this morning. Got a good but distracted wall guy. Luckily not many of his friends showed up today so he's a little more focused on work instead of talking.
Just walked past the roll up door and it's sunny out. This wind could go away. Gonna be a nice afternoon to work outside.
My wife had a sleepover with 2 of our granddaughters last night, so the dogs and I were by ourselves. The dogs mope around and sleep alot when Mom's gone, you can tell they're pouting. We stayed up late for me, almost 2am, watching a replay of the 3rd Round of The Masters. The Leaderboard sure is bunched for an exciting Final Round this afternoon. Should be a dandy.
I went to another cruise-in last night at a Sports Bar about 15-miles away. The weather was nice, sunny and 85°, but with a breeze so it didn't really feel that warm. I was glad I got there early because parking is somewhat limited and there was a good turnout. This was my 4th event already this season. The 1st judged show I plan on entering is not until May 4th. Most promoters/organizers try to avoid scheduling judged shows in April because the threat of rain and storms is just too high, and it can be cold.
Beautiful out and the wind has indeed died down. Doing stuff outside this afternoon.
We did okay yesterday at work. Finished up around 10, left about a quarter to 12. Went to see a car after work, which I plan on buying, but have to wait till Monday, as my credit union was already closed.
So I was poking around on the blue van, trying to get the hood open. There is no provision like in the video for a screw driver to turn the latch. Completely blocked by structure or AC parts. I may end up using tools of mass destruction. Which would be okay, I don't really want to do that, but I have a parts car to get stuff from should I need to.
Hope some mowing is part of the afternoon's activities. It's gotten away from me already. And if having two houses to mow isn't enough, I want to go down to my neighbors and see if they want me to mow for them. He's about 100 and can't do anything, and his son in Florida only comes up every 6 weeks or so.
We did okay yesterday at work. Finished up around 10, left about a quarter to 12. Went to see a car after work, which I plan on buying, but have to wait till Monday, as my credit union was already closed.
OK Mike, spill the beans, what are you planning on buying, inquiring minds want to know?
Not sure what make/model/year your van is, but have you gotten on a forum that caters to whatever it is and asked if there's a trick to getting it open? Just hoping you don't have to tear something up just to get it open? Good luck!
Very warm here today, we're looking at around 88° for a high, and humid too!
My Tacoma got lambasted last weekend as smelling like a quart of oil on a bonfire, and sounding like a dilapidated horse trailer, but the cake was the mushroom cloud of oil smoke at the grocery store last Friday that formed in the still air as I parked.
So, it was time for some improvements. Saturday, I removed the plenum and the coils, said a prayer, and put the wrench to the original plugs that had been there for 293k miles and hoped they wouldn't break. Retrieved all 4, no issues. Those electrodes are so toasted that that thing was running on hate, anger, and momentum for the last 100k.
Pulled 21 bolts, got the wire harness out of the way, and yanked the valve cover. Gasket around the rim was pliable but broken through in the spot where the leak was. The inner gasket held, but shattered into some 20 pieces as I pulled it. Washed the cover, put new gaskets on, read the dealer instructions, applied a little sealer, and torqued it down. I had the new plugs in the bores, so I torqued them too, and put the coils in and bolted and torqued them too. Put the harness in, applied a couple zipties, and put the plenum on.
Replaced the mostly dead wipers from 2019. Did an oil change. Dealer instructions said wait four hours before cranking, so I quit.
Took it for run this morning, did much better, cleared half the codes, had more power. At 5k rpm, it went PBBBBT PBBBBT PBBBT so I decided to keep on rolling and broke out my "test pipe." Broke 4 bolts loose, removed two harnesses and a hangar and dropped that thing. New O2 sensors, gaskets, a special harness to fool the rear O2 sensor that the cat was there, bolted it up.
Took it for a run, lots more power, no PBBBT, but, lost the resonator, so it sounds like a ricer now. I will call the guys that made the pipe and see if their muffler has resonating built in. If so, I'll put it on, already cracked the bolts loose and it's just 4 hangers.
Last edited by Koda; April 14th, 2024 at 06:16 PM.
292k on Mobil 1 5W-20 Synthetic and Purolator oil filters.
Wow, 293K-miles, that's one frickin high quality engine. I swear by Mobil1, that's all I've ever run in my 2000 Ford XLT Supercab. I've been running the Mobil 1 full synthetic 15w50 in the 4-4-2 since I've had it and it seems to love the stuff.
Well I think I've taken my last hot shower for awhile. For the last few days I haven't been smelling gas in the basement so I haven't worried about it. Last night about 1 I go downstairs to let the dog out and I could smell it again. This after I took my leak check and sprayed every connection and found nothing. It was concentrated around the water heater so I turned the gas off to it. Got up at 4 and still had hot water, but I'm guessing I won't this afternoon. Oh, when I went downstairs to let the dog out at 430, no gas. The connections to the water heater aren't leaking, so it must be something inside by the pilot light or the burner. Well, I wanted a new one anyway.
John you aren't big on maintenance on your cars, are you. I guess if it's still running...
Chris I'll try to put up a picture when I pick it up this afternoon. Try guessing. I'll give you a hint. It's grey. It also has black wheels and they are getting painted. I hate black wheels.
Late start. I guess the lead had something more pressing to take care of than getting things started. That's okay. I was here.
John, those plugs are amazing- I've never seen some so worn out. 293,000 miles is great! My only car I've bought new was a 2002 Impala. It made 300,000, My wife was embarrased by it towards the end- looked shabby but still ran good- but 300 thou was a goal- after it hit it I sold it. Mike, are you still looking at the old GM thread? I was a gas service man for our utility. That was one of my jobs- responding to gas calls. They were free to the customer. I'll bet your utility is the same. Call them to come check it out- Do it when you are there- we had to respond to a "gas emergency" within 1 hour of the call, 2 PM or 2 AM. Gas water heaters are repairable- you don't nessesarilly have to replace it.
Mike - A couple places to further evaluate - primarily the gas control valve itself. NOTE: Ensure POWER is turned off. You need no POWER to test for gas leaks.
(1) Leak test main gas feed line at the gas control valve. This is often an adapter. Validate the adapter doesn't leak where the main line enters the adapter on the gas control valve - this is the entrance of gas to the gas control valve. The in-line main gas line to the water heater should have two shut-off valves: (a) At the meter box itself (exterior); and, (b) in-line valve (inside home) prior to gas control valve. Depending on age/style/model gas water heater the control valve is often an open style (often no cover plate) or closed style (with a cover plate). If closed style remove cover plate to leak test control valve(s).
(2) Leak test gas control valve where gas exists (output) gas control valve and enters (feeds) the gas burner assembly.
Checking the above two fittings will help isolate if the gas control valve is faulty.
(3) If no gas leaks detected into the gas control valve and no leaks detected exiting the gas control valve, next test for a gas leak going into the gas burner assembly. There's generally a separate plate covering the gas burner assembly. Leak test the gas feed line from the gas control valve where it enters the gas burner assembly.
Either/Or both a faulty gas control valve and/or a gas burner assembly can be replaced. You have the gas water heater manual? If not, you can often download a manual. At a minimum, you can Google search the gas water heater model number and often times find the part number(s) for both on-line many times demonstrating where others have found a common gas leak problem on a specific model number.
Mike, I keep a 6 car fleet running, average age of vehicle in it is 42.5. It's not a question of being big on maintenance, but having the time to do so along with work, home improvement, and other things.
Anyone watched Netflix 'Louder Milk' (2017-2020)? Ron Livingston (Office Space) has lead role w/ a nice supporting cast. Humorous/Entertaining - worth a watch.
Keith - I loved that song when it first came out on the radio and still love it! I just didn't recognize the artist. Great stuff, I'll have to look for more of his stuff. Kinda reminds me of Chris Stapleton, who toiled in obscurity for years until he hit it big. I love his stuff too!
Ghirardelli Ultimate Chocolate Premium Brownies w/ Walnuts. Waiting (to cut into them) is the hardest part.
Norm - Those look delicious. I've bought Ghirardelli brand box brownie mixes for years. My favorite used to be a Triple Chocolate Brownie that had Chocolate Chips in the brownie batter, and also had a Chocolate Fudge frosting packet that went on after they cooled. That variety disappeared from Walmart shelves a few years ago, I don't know if they still make it or not? The Chocolate and Caramel ones are really good too.
That looks good Norm. I have a chicken dish in the oven atm. Last time, I did not put milk in with the cream of mushroom. Apparently that is an assumed thing. So, not enough sauce. Now, I used a family sized can of cream of mushroom and a slug of milk. Might have overextended. Will update.
John - I haven't had chicken w/ cream of mushroom in a very long time but I really enjoy the combination. I used to make it over pasta or over fresh croissants if I could get them. In a pinch I'd layer it over hardy thick toasted bread.
Sorry they're sideways. Yes, so one normal sized can cream of mushroom soup and a can of milk from that can is correct. Not one can without the milk (previous attempt) or one big can with big milk, this attempt.
Keith - I loved that song when it first came out on the radio and still love it! I just didn't recognize the artist. Great stuff, I'll have to look for more of his stuff. Kinda reminds me of Chris Stapleton, who toiled in obscurity for years until he hit it big. I love his stuff too!
I am pretty sure he has written/co-written with some in the business behind the scenes. Talented artist in my opinion
The ongoing saga of the gas smell in the basement continues. Just a hint of warm water in the shower today; that must have been a record for the fastest shower. Anyway, got up at 1 to let the dog out, smelled gas in the basement. There's nothing left except the furnace. So I turned the valve off and shut off gas to the furnace. Let the dog out before work, no gas smell. The furnace and the water heater sit next to each other btw. Furnace isn't 2 years old, so I'm gonna call the guy who installed it and see if he'll come out and have a look.
Greg I'm up to February '23 in TNGMT reading. Shouldn't be too long now. Jeff has just sold his Starfire, Jamesbo is still looking for a K5 and keeps running into scammers, and Chris is feverishly looking for an errant noise in the back of his car.
Got my neighbor to give me a ride to the car place after work. My new ride is a 2018 Fiat 124 Spider. An odd car for a fat man I know, but it's reasonably comfortable, and it's a convertible. And a straight shift. I'll work on a picture.
Okay got some wheels already. Hope everyone has a good Tuesday.
April 11th, 2024, 01:29 PM
