Hello 2007 !

Yesterday I ran the vacuum and I sewed up my bedspread cover like I said I would. I took Buddy outside a couple of times, but other than that, not much else got done. Just hanging out and vegging at home. I noticed that I forgot my bag with my camera and cellphone - I left them at the office.

Leaving them is no surprise when you consider that I was taking Buddy, a bag with his stuff, the two hard drive back-up drives from our computers, and my Christmas wreath all at the same time.

Paycheck was deposited last night. I wrote the check for rent first thing this morning. Then, after walking Buddy I went to the bank website and used Web Bill Pay to pay most of the other bills. Next I went to Waffle House and enjoyed two pecan waffles and a side of "hash tans".

Next I went to BJ's Wholesale Warehouse where I purchased six cases of bottled water, two big bricks of Swiss cheese, two packs of ham, three packs of pepperoni, a case of sliced mushrooms, a six-pack of red peppers, a three pack of Lysol, two bottles of mustard, and a bag of green beans. Spent over $200 and I still need to buy groceries.

Finished reading Augustus this afternoon. I put it next to Cicero on the bookshelf -- they were both written by the same author. After laying the book aside I layed down for a nap. That lasted until Buddy needed to go outside.

Flag was flying at half-mast today for Gerald Ford, the 38th president. Other dead people this week include Saddam Hussein and James Brown.

Friday !

There! I feel much better. I just finished my shower.

What a long day. I took Buddy with me to the office because there would be nobody else there for him to bother. I think he was bored. He behaved though. He crawled under my desk and napped most of the afternoon.

Fay told me on the phone that there were "a few" orders on my desk. Yeah, a pile an inch thick! Altogether they came to $241k. There were many service issues too. Barbara Hacker was manning the phones in Hollywood.

All of the factories had reduced manning this week too. I guess it's been stressful in Customer Service for all of them.

Craig phoned in from Toronto. He took the wife and kids to Canada to see snow because the kids have never seen it. Well, they still haven't seen it. The temperature stubbornly refuses to drop below freezing! I told him he'd better see those polar bears before global warming extincts them!

Ana Velazquez called today. She wants to get together with Betsy, Peggy, and me on January 12 for lunch. If I tell Craig, I bet he'll pay for it too.

I took all of the Christmas cards down and stacked them and wrapped with a rubber band. Peggy Patterson collects them for a charity after the season.

Paid Vacation

I put the new DVD player into my stereo "stack" today and removed the CD player, the old DVD player (which was only 4 years old), and my very old (20 years) VHS VCR that has a forgotten porn tape stuck in it.

Started the equipment up and it worked perfectly! No radio frequency converter needed for the 20-inch Sony - the stereo receiver and the TV both took the output directly! A nice surprise.

The old equipment is in the garage. I am going to cannibalize the circuit boards and drive motors from that stuff and throw the cabinets out.

I stripped and re-made my bed today. I think I am going to take the quilt cover off of the bed this weekend and run the bottom of it through the sewing machine -- it's been slowly unravelling and opening up.

Tomorrow is my day to work. Hopefully it won't be too bad. Fay called today with some questions, but it wasn't anything overwhelming. She said that Craig is travelling with his family in Canada this week. Only have to get through tomorrow, then I have another long weekend!

Buddy is coming to the office with me tomorrow. There will not be anyone there for him to bother.

Christmas 2006

Buddy and I spent a quiet weekend here at home. Except for a trip to Winn-Dixie on Christmas Eve and a trip to Pet Supermarket the day after Christmas, we did not go out except to walk.

I spent the weekend reading stuff on the Internet and reading my way through Augustus. I spent sometime reading random articles on Wikipedia... stuff about ancient Roman architecture, various modern aircraft and their engines, and physics.

Christmas Day was very rainy and stormy. There were tornados in Florida destroying houses!

Buddy got to the dog park this morning. This afternoon I cleaned his ears out, took his collar off, and gave him a bath. He hates taking baths.

I bet Gabe is upset that he did not get the order report from me this past week. Evelyn came in on Friday and installed back-up hardware. Well, since the back-up was running and we could not interrupt it, I could not create the report. I am sure it can wait.

I will trying to find some pictures to take and post here soon.

Looong Weekend!

Today was a very overcast and windy day.

Judging from the cars backing up out on I-4, Millenia Mall must be very busy today. Last minute shoppers. I need bread, yogurt, bleach, soup -- stuff like that, and I dread going to the store and facing a crowd.

Again today Fay and I made lunch sandwiches with the leftovers from the Too Jay's coldcuts Mike brought over on Tuesday. Then I got home to let Buddy out for his walk, take my antibiotic, and come back.

Space shuttle is supposed to come down from orbit today, but NASA is not sure whether it will land here in Florida or out in New Mexico. The weather is a little too windy to bring it down here.

Craig was in today for about an hour. He dropped a $20 on my desk and Fay's desk and said, "Here, I'm buying you lunch!" I go, "But Craig, we're eating the leftovers today!" He replies, "Well, then this is Monday's lunch."

Rick Mullis called me for my address Wednesday night. "Why do you need my address? You know how to get over here!" He wanted to send me a Christmas card. Maybe I should have put my return address on the envelopes.

Evelyn came to the office with removable hard disk drives for all of our computers. She set up a routine so that all we have to do is push one button, the computer makes a copy of the important files, we unplug it and take it home until next week.

I got a small tin full of cashews from Craig and Sally today. I guess Craig only used Casa de Fruta for our own people this year. Fay and I both took one bottle of maple syrup.

Laundry is done now. It is laying on my bed waiting for me to fold it. I need to scrub the toilet tonight and maybe clean the floors.

The space shuttle came down at 5:30 pm. When it passed over the sonic boom was so strong it almost knocked my front door open! It's safe on the ground at KSC now.

I think I am going to take my computer off of the little wooden desk this weekend, take it out to the garage, sand the dirt marks off of it, and polyurethane the top and the keyboard tray. That will keep it from getting as dirty.

Orlando, FL

Another hectic one for us at FER.

This morning I had two orders for one (1) 12-gallon kettle each and two orders for two (2) 12-gallon kettles each. Cleveland Range only had four (4) kettles left in stock. I said, "Okay, here is what we're gonna do. You're gonna put one on Rita's order because she will tell you, her order is more important than anyone elses. Next, we are going to put one kettle on each of the remaining orders and tell the restaurants that ordered two that the remaining kettle is backordered. That way we get some equipment to all of these restaurants before New Years." Well, that was fine, but in the afternoon orders came in for more 12-gallon kettles. Damn.

I found this fascinating new issue of Scientific Republican on the Internet today. They examine wonderful scientific theories like The Stork Theory of Reproduction! A truly valuable tool for todays neo-conservative moron.

At lunch today, Fay and I made sandwiches from the leftovers we had yesterday. Whatever is left tomorrow is going into the trash. Then I came home to get Buddy out, pick up my UPS package from the office, and take my antibiotic.

The package was from Gabe Puerto in Hollywood. It was a basket of English muffins and a jar of jam. Typical Christmas gift stuff. I will have to remember to thank him for it and then find a new home for it.

While picking up this package, Debbie Roth, the property manager, invited me down to the club house tomorrow night for light refreshments and an evening of carolling. Starting at Building 2 they will be singing in the apartment building breezeways. I smiled and thanked her for the invite. I will try to not be home when they come around.

Buddy has been walked, I have showered, and I have laundry in the dryer. One more day to go, then I am off until next Friday!

Orlando, FL

I just need to sleep. I am tired.

Fay and I spent the morning boxing up bottles of maple syrup to send to our food service consultants. After that was done it was time to go to lunch. So I went to Chik-Fil-A and then home to get Buddy out and take my mid-day antibiotic. Before I pulled into the apartments Fay called on my cellphone to report that Mike Ouelette of Commercial Appliance was in our office with a huge spread of food for us as a Christmas lunch. So, we had sandwiches, slaw, and potato salad from Too Jay's.

The afternoon was spent handling my numerous service calls. Too many of them. Too many phone calls too. The orders have been pitiful this week and Craig said that next month should be a slow period for us.

My guts have been aching and in an uproar all day. I made chili lastnight and when I make it I use a shortcut called "Ro-tel". It's a can of tomatoes, peppers, and onions. I usually buy "mild", but for once I tried "hot". Well, it was very hot and spicy. I should feel better tomorrow.

Orlando, FL

Damn. It was non-stop at the office today. Just one issue after another. Only three orders. Nothing but service calls and service issues for me.

At lunch we drove to Oakland, FL -- way out in west Orange County to visit with Gill Marketing Group. Craig brought platters from Chik-Fil-A. It was a nice lunch, but the conversation was mostly banal and I would have rather been with the gay.com lunch at Dim Sum Palace. Oh well.

Poor Buddy didn't get out of his crate all day long. I hurried home from work because I knew he needed to get out, but I stopped for gas and to check my mail. There were a bunch of Christmas cards in the mail today.

Now I am making a pan of chili for dinner and catching this blog up. I feel like going to bed early.

Monday

Whew! That day seemed to fly right by!

We received 48 bottles of maple syrup from Bruce Goodyear in Vermont in special custom "FER" bottles. I had to spend some time boxing up bottles of syrup for various consultants.

I got a foot-long BMT on herbs and cheese bread at Subway for lunch. Then I brought it home to eat and I got Buddy out of his crate to eat and walk outside.

The afternoon went by quickly too. It is hard to believe the day is over already.

Dad called lastnight. He was telling me that he had to replace an electric receptacle in the kitchen because everyone was getting shocked when they washed their hands in the bathroom sink. I guess the last straw was when he was showering and reached up to grab the shower nozzle -- he couldn't let go!! LOL!!

He has fixed it so that I can buy the clutch kit for my truck for the same price he pays and I can get it at any AutoZone. That's sweet! That's like half off! Around $80 for the clutch kit.

Weekend

The picture here is part of an animated gif showing a "tsunami" moving across the surface of the sun. Reportedly it made sunspots go out as it passed!

On Thursday night Mike Foreman called. He is currently at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base following up on the retrofit of USS Florida. He returns to Norfolk on Friday, 12-22-06.

Friday morning I ran into LT Dan (or is that LCDR Dan?). He's retired now and living in San Diego working for a defense contractor. He is glad to be out there. The rest of his family is in Orange County, CA, just 100 miles up the road.

After reading Here's What We'll Say, I began to think about people I worked with in the military. On Saturday I began Googling them. I found Tony Balasa living in Coronado, CA. I called him on the USS Ronald Reagan and did some catching up! He was de-nuked after medical gave him psychotropic medicine and it was the best thing to happen to him!

Evidently Keith Howard from my Power School class got out of the Navy and went home to Indiana. I found an article that accuses him and and 15 others or running methamphetamines.

I found Iasia S Griffin (Blue) from boot camp in Norfolk Public Records for speeding and driving on a suspended license.

Preston Pratt from GW is vice-president of some part of the American Nuclear Society now. I wrote him an email message.

There were others, but it is hard to know if you have found the right person or someone with the same name.

This weekend was spent at home relaxing. I made cookies on Saturday and fudge on Sunday, but otherwise I did very little. I needed the vegetation time. Hard to believe the weekend has gone already!

Starting my biography of Augustus Caesar titled Augustus tonight. It was written by the same guy who wrote Cicero, so I am sure it's good.

Orlando, FL

Lastnight I steamed fresh green beans for dinner and poured melted butter and garlic over them. They were very good.

I am still quickly reading through Reichen Lemkuhl's autobiography Here's What We'll Say. I am sure that I will finish it tonight. Before reading this book I knew about his success on CBS's The Amazing Race and that he was a model. I just thought he was mostly fluff. But after reading about his experience in the military I have a lot of respect for the things he accomplished in the Air Force. Some of the things he managed to do astound me.

Because I understand the implications of many of the things he describes, I really sympathize. I found myself crying for joy or sadness as I read. I found myself dreading many of the things that he dreaded, and I have a taste of what life must have been like at the Air Force Academy. It made me remember Navy Basic Training, Nuclear Power School, and all of the friends I had during that time. If I ever have the opportunity, I think I would like to meet him.

I felt feverish again today and my stomach is upset. Maybe I have a stomach flu. Fay looked at the rope burn on my arm and she is concerned that is becoming infected - it's very red and kinda swollen. When I see Sue Lowe at the doctor's office tomorrow I will have her look at it and maybe prescribe an oral antibiotic for it.

Orlando, FL

The weather yesterday was clear and in the mid-70's. In the afternoon it clouded up and it felt like it was trying to rain when I finally got home and took Buddy out to walk.

Buddy was confined to his crate all day yesterday because I could not get home during lunch. Fay and I drove down to the Red Lobster in Kissimmee to meet Craig and the people from the Edward Don office there. Craig was taking them out to lunch for Christmas. I met Carl Beigle, Linda Lancon, and their temp-worker, Janet.

I had the fried seafood platter with slaw, fries, and iced tea.

Pictured here is the old Garland range that came out of the Sanford VFW Post. That range is over 30 years old! We sent this picture back to Garland and they could not believe it!

This morning I took Buddy out to walk on the retractable leash. As we were heading east down Metrowest Boulevard, he began running around a small tree. I kept following him to keep his leash from being twisted around the tree, then Buddy took off across the street and the leash was pulled out of my hands!

Fortunately he stopped when I called him. He came back to the road and then waited while a car passed. Then he ran across the street again dragging the leash behind him. I jumped for the leash, landing on my stomach and tried to get a grip on the cord as he kept running. I could feel it burning between my fingers. Finally I got ahold of the retractor and got up. I have a 10-inch-long rope burn on my forearm from that episode!

Lately I have been missing my "glory days" back in the Navy. LOL! Well, that only took me four years. After thinking about it, I realized that I don't miss the job one bit, just some of the people. I thumbed through my albums too, but there have not been many pictures lately. With digital photography, most of the pictures do not get printed out (they go to Flickr instead).

Monday

Today has been very windy and cloudy. The temperature has been comfortable.

This weekend I went to Harbor Freight Tools to get a few cheap things and found a retractable dog leash for $3.99. I got one for Buddy. He really likes the freedom that it gives him to hang behind me and sniff something or to run on ahead and off to the sides of the walk, but on his very first walk with it he managed to break it!

I took it to the garage and disassembled it, pulled the cord back out, put it back together and we were able to use it again this morning. I took his regular leash along too -- just in case.

Today was Fay's birthday. Debbie took her out to lunch. She left work early today too.

At lunch time I went home and checked the mail. I found Christmas cards from Becky and Bill, Fay, Nancy Baranet, and William Trabazo.

There were only a few orders this morning. I was able to sort all of the old orders and correspondence and get it filed today. I am glad this is out of the way because I was running out of space to put stuff!

I finished the book about the Persians this weekend. The ending was kinda disappointing because the author skipped over hundreds of years of history in like five pages. Anyway, I stopped at Barnes & Noble and picked up a couple biographies. One is about Augustus and it is titled Augustus. The other one is about Reichen Lemkuhl. Remember him? He was in CBS's The Amazing Race in 2003 with his then partner Chip Arndt. His book is called Here's What We'll Say.

The problems with the front brakes on the truck are definitely solved. Braking at all speeds is very smooth! I have been sore since Saturday... used a few muscles that haven't been used in awhile!

Front Wheels

Space shuttle launch was postponed until tonight due to weather on the Cape.

I read more of my book. I had to turn one of the window fans off and just let one run in low speed because the bedroom got soooo chilly lastnight!

This morning I slept in til about 7 am. Then I got up, ate breakfast, and walked Buddy. Around 9 I began setting up in the garage to change the brakes and front-wheel bearings.

I rolled the truck out of the garage and turned it so that I could get to both sides. Set the parking brake, and then used my "black jack" to lift the truck up. Then I removed the five lugnuts and pulled the left front wheel off. With the wheel off I inspected the brake pans and found that there was about a quarter inch still left on them! So, those did not need to be changed. Next I used the 14 mm wrench to remove the brake calipers and I hung them from the suspension with an old wire coat hanger.

Now it's time to remove the wheel from the spindle. Using a screwdriver and a hammer, I knocked the dust cover off of the hub. Then I pulled the cotter pin out with pliers, removed the castle-ated locking washer, unscrewed the lock nut, shook the wheel back and forth to loosen the outer bearing and thrust washer.

I pulled those out and removed the hub and rotor from the spindle. Using a screwdriver and hammer I removed the grease seal from the inside of the hub and then pulled the inner bearing out. I put the inner and outer bearings, lock nut, lock washer, and thrust washer into the parts washer to clean all of the grease off of them with gasoline.

All of the excess grease was cleaned off of the spindle with gasoline too.

To get the rotor off of the hub, I put the rotor into the vice and clamped it down tight. Wasn't worried about scratching it because it was going to be discarded. Used 14mm socket and ratchet to break the five mounting bolts free and unscrewed them. The fit between the hub and the rotor was tight. I had to take the assembly outside and beat the rotor off with a hammer!

The new rotor was from China and I had to wipe it off with acetone because was covered with a grease-like preservative. After cleaning the hub out/off real good in the parts washer, I mounted the new rotor onto the hub.

I decided that the bearings were in fine shape and that they could go back into the wheel. That means that $40-worth of unneeded bearings can go back to Pep Boys! I had to pack the bearings by hand and then put them back into the hub. I scooped some extra grease inside of each bearing with my fingers. Then the grease seal had to be put in. I had to hammer it in using a scrap block of wood.

Grease was smeared onto the spindle and then I pushed the hub and rotor onto the spindle. I smeared more grease onto the outer bearing and then pushed the thrust washer on, screwed the lock nut on and while spinning the wheel, tightened the lock nut down with channel locks to seat the bearings. Next I backed the lock nut off 1/4 turn and snugged it up finger-tight, pushed the castle-ated lock washer on, put a new cotter pin in, and tapped the dust cover back on with a hammer.

Re-installed the brake caliper and bolted it down.

Put the tire and rim back on, lowered the truck, and moved everything to the right side.

Same procedure for the right side, but getting the brake caliper mounting bolts out was a bitch. All of the bolts were glued in with Loctite thread compound and on the right side of the truck it is harder for a right-handed person to pull the wrenches. I had to use a hammer with my right hand while laying on my back and holding the wrench with my left hand to get the top bolt loose. To get the bottom bolt loose, I left the wrench hanging from the bolt head and installed a bottle jack under it. As the jack pushed up the bolt began to break free. I had to lower the jack, re-position the wrench and repeat, but I was able to free the mounting bolts this way.

On the right side I found the inner bearing to have a dented cage, but it was not interfering with the bearing operation at all. I decided to re-install this bearing.

The job took me five hours to complete. I am tired now. But the problem with vibration is completely gone! I have no idea which rotor was warped, and now I don't even care! I took the bearings back to Pep Boys and carefully tested the brakes on that trip.

Now I am doing laundry, vacuuming, running the dish washer, and getting ready to walk Buddy one more time.

Finally Friday!

I was very chilly this morning when we went out to walk. It was in the low forties with a stiff breeze coming from the north (windchill made it feel like thirties!). I kept urging Buddy to "Hurry Up! Get Busy!", but he wanted to sniff, play, hunt for stray cats, and explore.

At work today I finished the 2007 Capital Equipment Bid for Betsy at Disney. I quoted $1,234,026.60 in new equipment. If they buy half of that I will be thrilled.

Debbie Owings came in today with cards and poinsettias for Fay and me. It's a pretty plant, but I heard that they are very temperamental. Mine will probably die.

Lunch today was a can of Dinty Moore stew and a grilled Swiss cheese sandwich. I got Buddy outside and then played with him for a few minutes before I had to head back to the office.

Space shuttle launch was cancelled last night due to low clouds. Re-scheduled for tonight at 8:47 pm. If it's as cold tonight as lastnight, I won't even bother going to look for it.

After work I need to stop at Walmart to get one of those foil oven pans to catch the overflow brake fluid tomorrow during my brake and bearing job. Hopefully I will have nice weather to work in.

I need to clean the floors this evening and then curl up with my book about the Persians and keep reading. I am within 100 pages of the end now. I read about the Greek defeat at Thermopylae lastnight.

Orlando, FL

This morning on our walk Buddy and I noticed that somebody put laundry soap in the fountain out front. You know you live in a metropolitan area when you come home at lunch to find "Fountain Doctors" working on your fountains.

Today I got all of the Delfield quoted on Betsy's 2007 Capital project. I am still waiting on the FWE quotation. I hope Kevin hurries - the bid is due at noon.

This morning Fay's husband, Meggie, found two Toyota W-59 transmissions at A to Z Auto Salvage in Apopka. $350 with my core trade-in. I think I will probably get one, wrap it in plastic with dessicant, get the clutch kit, store these and shop for a mechanic to install it all. Not an emergency. Even if I spend $1000 on the truck, this should keep it running another five years, and I won't have a car payment.

Twelve-inch Subway Club sandwich on wheat today at lunch. I pinched a couple pieces off for Buddy.

It sure is getting dark early. We still have two more weeks til the shortest day of the year too!

I don't think it got down to 42 lastnight. I put the window fan in lastnight and it cooled the house down nicely. It's still running in the window now... watch it will be cold tonite! LOL!

Hump Day

There were two people out today in Cleveland Range Customer Service. I guess that wouldn't be a big deal, but at this time of year? As it turns out, multiple orders were screwed up and the two people left to cope couldn't answer all of the questions.

Dad told me to find out how much freight would be on the eBay transmission ($125) but the price went up to $400! He told me to find out how much a clutch kit would be for the truck too -- makes sense since the transmission will already be out of the way. Trading the truck is looking more and more attractive.

Fay suggested Carmax down by the airport. Craig agrees. He said he's gotten good deals down there too. They will even buy your car even if you are not buying from them!

About half way through my history of Persia. I read last night about the stunning victory of the Greeks over the Persians at Marathon. The writer is talented -- he was able to bring the situation to life and make it seem like it happened recently.

I need to go to Bally's and lie to them. I need to tell them that I am moving home and it's 100 miles from the nearest Bally's so that they will let me out of my contract. That will free up another $32 a month that will be needed for a car payment.

The forecast was for a low of 42°F tonight. I don't think it's going down that low tonight.

Transmission

Now my mission is to find out how much shipping will be on the $199 transmission seen on eBay that is currently in Maine. Also, Dad told me to call AutoZone and find out how much the clutch kit would be for my truck (probably another $150), since most of the work doing the clutch involves dropping the transmission.

Toyota told Dad that the transmission was a seven-hour job, but that they usually had them changed in just a couple of hours. He's going to check with a maintenance friend of his in Clearwater and see if he's interested in doing my truck.

After you add up everything -- transmission $199, transmission freight $125, clutch kit $150, labor $400 to $500, my savings will be almost depleted again. I don't know what's worse, losing my savings to this transmission job, or taking on a car payment. If I can get 0% APR and some cash for my trade-in, the payments might not be that bad!

Today I worked on the Disney capital project almost all day. I just have to finish the Cleveland Range combination steamer/ovens tomorrow, get Traulsen alternates from Delfield, and get alternates from F.W.E. for holding cabinets. Still, that's a lot of items.

We left the balcony doors open last night. It dropped to 48°F and it was nice and cool in the house this morning. That will save on the electric bill next month!

Today was clear, cool, and beautiful. Sunny bright day today.

After work I had to take Fay home because her son's car is in the shop and he took her car to go to work. It was only a few miles out of my way.

Another Week...

Read more of my book about the Persian invasion of Greece lastnight and fell asleep. I think Buddy slept all night long because I never heard him up and he was sleeping in the crate when I got up at 5:15 am.

During our walk this morning he saw the stray cat that lives across the street and started to chase it. I see why the cat hangs out there -- the office workers have put a feeded and watering bottle out for it on the sidewalk!

Began to dig into the 2007 Disney Capital Equipment Bid this morning. Even though it's a waste of time, Craig wants me to put our stuff in for alternates everywhere we can. I will do it, but this quote will take all week. I have asked the factories to specify which equipment would be the most equivalent.

Before lunch I called six different junkyards automotive disassembly and recycling centers to locate a W-59 transmission for my truck. Only one parts center had one. It's in a 2004 Tacoma in Gainesville, FL, and he wants $700 for it. Damn. To compare, I phoned Toyota of Orlando Parts Department to find out how much a new one would cost -- $1852! I think Dad underestimated how much this would cost.

I suspect the same synchro that serves fourth gear also serves third gear, either that, or third gear is about to go too.

Fay's son's car is in the shop too. Because she is going to let him use her car tomorrow to go to work, she asked me if I could take her home after work. "Sure! It doesn't have breaks or a good transmission, but I am sure it will be okay!"

Just to find out exactly what these "synchros" are, I did some research on the Internet today. Synchros work in the transmission during gear shifts. When you shift into a new gear, that new gear is not moving, the synchro brings it up to speed before it meshes with the gear driven by the engine. This makes the shift smoother and quieter. Synchros are made of soft brass or bronze material and they wear faster than the gears. They are like little clutches for the transmission gears. First gear and Reverse do not have synchros.

The landlord at the office sent the annual five-gallon drum of popcorn for Christmas. We decided that this year we will feed the stale leftover corn to the ducks.

Mom called around 5 pm. "I have some bad news..." I interrupted her, "I know Aunt Thereasa died on Saturday." I told her that Dad told me on Saturday when I called about the transmission, but that somehow my problems in life were more important to me than her death. I guess Mom heard it from Pat who read it in the Record-Courier.

She was still on the line when the Flintstones music went off at 5:01 pm announcing to Fay and me that the workday was over!

Craig returned to the office around 4:30 pm. After Fay left we discussed my truck problems. He thinks that with the transmission and its installation being so expensive that it isn't worth it. He thinks I should just go ahead and get a new car. I told him that I had been trying to save the bonuses for a house downpayment and he hated to see me use my savings for the car too, but he said that December is the best time to negotiate for a car. He is right, of course.

Tomorrow I will call Navy Federal Credit Union and see how much I can pre-qualify for on a new car loan. They are financing new cars for 72 months now!

A quick search on eBay this evening reveals a 1998 W59 transmission in Maine for $199. It will be more after shipping, but maybe Dad knew what he was talking about!

Weekend

Friday after noon Fay left for her doctors appointment at 2:30 pm. The phones were busy after she left of course. Matthew Tang: "Okay Little Brother, I need you to call Cleveland Range and put four steamers on hold for me, okay. I need you to fax over that quote your Working Mother wrote for me...." Stupidity like that.

Betsy Hummel finally got her Capital Equipment Bid for 2007 done. She emailed it at 4:40 pm. She wants it back by Friday, so I guess I will be writing a giant quote this week.

After work I went to BJ's Wholesale Warehouse to get four cases of water, two big blocks of Swiss cheese, two packs of sliced ham, Coffee Mate non-dairy creamer, bags of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, six cans of sweetened condensed milk (I am making fudge). Next stop: Super Target where I finished my grocery shopping.

I am trying to avoid Walmart until after the Christmas season. But if you listen to the crying coming from Bentonville, it sounds like they aren't having the busy shopping season they were expecting. Geez. Funny how that happens when people don't have money and don't expect to have any coming in.

On Saturday morning I went to Pep Boys to get brake rotors, inner and outer wheel bearings, grease seals, and degreaser. I think I am ready to do the front brakes next weekend.

After the auto parts store I took the truck to Sonny's for a car wash and oil change. While there the technician recommended changing the rear differential lubricant, changing the power steering fluid, and cleaning the fuel injectors. I declined all of those services and since Sonny's went up recently to $29 for the wash and oil change, I will probably begin changing oil myself again.

Briefly stopped at the house to put the auto parts into the garage, then went out again. Ate lunch at Wendy's then went to SuperCuts. I told "January" to cut it as close as she can. Then I went home and used the Headblade to take it down to skin. It feels very cool and dry!

While there I vacuumed and dusted the house. It needed it. You get more dust when you have a dog in the house.

In the afternoon/evening, I drove up to Casselberry to the WoodCraft store. Here I got the disc that turns your table saw into a disc sander, some sand paper for the disc, a five piece safety set that includes two pushers for the tablesaw, two pushers for the jointer, and a featherboard for the tablesaw or router table. They had scraps of exotic woods for sale $4 per pound in a big box out front, I should have gotten some. They seemed to be sold out of tapering jigs. It's fun to browse that store because they have alot of stuff in there.

On the way back from Casselberry the truck began acting funny. Transmission would grind going into 4th gear and it would pop out of 4th unless you held it with your hand. Great. Just when I thought I was going to get ahead a little...

I phoned Dad and talked to him about it. He said it sounds like the 4th gear synchro is shot and that the best thing to do is replace the transmission. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He said you can get a transmission for $200 - $250 at the boneyard and that the job is simple enough to do yourself. It probably is, but I have never done it and am reluctant to do it myself too.

Monday and Tuesday I am supposed to call around to local yards and see what the transmission part will cost. Dad is going to consult to find out what the labor should cost to put it in. The labor is where they stick it to you.

Today was spent hanging around the house, reading, watching The History Channel documentaries - generally just relaxing. Not really ready to go back to work.