Tough Old Bird

Usually, the first thing I do when I wake up in the afternoon is to check my voicemail and email - since I'm working while you sleep/sleeping while most of you are at work, I'm kind of hard to reach. Yesterday, there was an email from my cousin from early that morning, letting me know that my 91-year-old Grandmother (who has been battling Alzheimer's for several years) was not doing well - she had slipped into a coma several days ago, and, while she was resting comfortably, he didn't expect her to be with us much longer. Needless to say, this was not how I wanted to hear from him - the last time I saw him was when my father died unexpectedly last summer. I emailed him back, asking him to keep me informed and started making a mental checklist of what I would need to do to get to Pittsburgh in the next several days. Several minutes later, a reply appeared in my inbox - apparently at some point in the afternoon, my Grandmother opened her eyes, sat up, and asked for some chocolate ice cream.

The way I figure it, if you make it to 91, you deserve all the damn ice cream you want. Love ya, Gram.

The Aftermath

Hope everyone had a good Christmas. I had a great time with the family, although I was pretty exhausted by the end of a day full of cooking (Mom's back problems continue, so I stepped in and did as much as I could), assembling toys, giving lessons on MP3 players, etc.

I Finally got a picture of my roommates' car after the accident:



Pretty gnarly, huh? Thank God he wasn't in it. But the best part is what he replaced it with:


A full size conversion van! It's totally bitchin' - I can't even look at it without hearing the opening riff from "Slow Ride". If he turns his back long enough, I'm totally going to cover the inside with orange shag carpeting and paint the outside with a mural of a wizard riding a unicorn over a rainbow in outer space. A friend's band is coming to town next month, and I say we dig out our jean jackets, grab a few cases of Natty Light and cruise the parking lot for rock chix.

I am working on a couple of projects right now and should have write-ups posted in the near future (including the first-ever General Discontent how-to file!) Stay tuned...

Ho Ho Ho

I just got back from a trip to my best friend's house to give my godchildren their Xmas presents, and had to share a pic I snapped with my cameraphone:



Looks like Mom got more from Santa than she bargained for. And ladies, if your husband is a juvenile meathead (like my friends & I), don't let him set up the advent box display.

...and to all a goodnight

Just wanted to wish everyone Happy Holidays, have fun and be safe. Just some odds 'n ends before the brief Xmas hiatus:

-I may be posting an interesting postscript to the saga of the missing Dodge. Stay tuned.

-I haven't had a chance to plug in the Big Muff yet, so no reviews on the sound. I'm not too crazy about the looks - one of the things I liked about my old one was that it looked like it was built in a Soviet factory - it was ugly-ass green, made of riveted together plates of steel, and had three big, black, chunky knobs on it. I could practically picture a guard in an ushanka with a Kalashnikov over his soldier, walking out on to factory floor after the fall of the Soviet Union and announcing, "No more tanks! You build these now! For American who plays the rock-and-roll!" (Why do the Russian stereotypes that live in my head only speak broken English?) The grey-faced, babushka-clad women would never miss a beat, and would start solemnly assembling the new contraptions for the Imperialist westerners. I'm amazed it wasn't labeled in Cyrillic, for God's sake. The new one looks too "modern" (albeit a Communist-bloc occupant's idea of modern). And the finish is some kind of textured powdercoating that looks durable - too durable. One of the cool things about my old one was that it was all dented and scarred and half the paint was missing. It really added points to my punk-rock cred. Maybe I'll tie the new one to my bumper and drive around for a while.

Since there's a complete lack of content in this post, I'll point out two new (to me, anyway) bands that I've been digging lately - Straylight Run (coolest namesake ever) and Hawthorne Heights. Check 'em out.

It's heeeeeeeeere...

A journey of a thousand miles...

It must be hardwired into the men of my generation to start questioning your place in the universe at a certain age, because lately many of my friends (both online and in meatspace) seem to be doing just that. So, I thought I might as well post my thoughts on it.

Once upon a time, I graduated college and got a job. The job paid very little (like a couple bucks above minimum wage) but I liked it. I got to work with cool people doing cool stuff and got to play with lots of cool gear. Since the pay was lousy, a friend & I started doing web pages on the side (this was back in the days when knowing the *blink* tag was enough HTML experience for people to hire you on the spot). One particular business did so well with their web page that they offered me a whole lot of money to come aboard full time. At the new job, despite hearing "It must be AWESOME to work here!" about a hundred times a week, I was miserable. Management would ask me for solutions, and I would come up with them, along with elaborate research & detailed instructions on how to implement them. They would then proceed to do absolutely nothing, and blame me when the problems didn't magically disappear. I hated it and was giving myself an ulcer and hadn't slept for the better part of a year when some idiots decided to crash some planes into the World Trade Center, and I got laid off. Simple as that.

The loss of my job, along with some unexpected medical bills, pretty much served to decimate my finances and my credit rating. Know what? I wasn't any less happy. I sure wasn't thrilled about being broke, but I realized that I didn't need to make a ton of money to be happy. I re-enrolled in school and earned a masters' degree. Now, several years later, I have all these friends telling me "You have a masters' degree! You could easily get a better paying job, then you could get a bigger house, a new car, etc.". Then I could be as happy as they are - They, who have $220K houses and two new cars in the garage. They, who have mortgage payments bigger than my gross monthly income. They, who work on salary, go in at 6AM, and come home at 8PM too exhausted to play with their kids. They, who have 120-mile commutes every day. They, who work on commission alongside backstabbing assholes. No thanks.

I eventually did find another job that paid about the same as I was making before. I like it - I wouldn't say that I charge out of bed every day rarin' to get to work, but I genuinely don't mind going. I like what I do, and I like (most of) the people I work with. And the best part? - I leave work after 8 hours, I go home, and I don't think about it. I have enough time and money left over to work on my little projects. I might not be raking in the salary that some of my friends are, but life's too short to work a job you hate.

People always say "If you love what you do, you never work a day in your life". You have to be careful here - I've had friends who were fellow amateur photographers, and went out on their own to open their own studio. The result? Photography BECAME a job. One that they hated. I've known people who practiced music, mechanics, & art as a hobby, and when they turned it into a job, it got a whole lot less fun. Jobs, by nature, are always going to have co-workers and clients and deadlines and late nights and things that just make life a lot less fun in general.

I guess my point is, it's not where your money comes from, it's what you do. Do what makes you happy, even if you don't make any money at it. Even if it's at home, in your spare time. Even if nobody ever sees it (although the Internet now remedies that, to a degree). You might work at a pharmacy from 9 to 5, but maybe you're really a photographer. You might get paid to drive a forklift, but you're really a painter. I'm pretty sure the subcontractor who was pulling cable at work the other day was actually a gardener. Don't let your environment define you. And don't get too worked up over your job. I know the anxieties of "What if I lose my job? I have no savings - I won't be able to pay my bills! I'll be homeless! Living on the streets! I'll have to put on dark sunglasses and sell pencils from a cup!" Well, it happened to me, and I survived. Mom always said "Don't worry, things will work out alright" and I quietly rolled my eyes at her naivete. Turns out she's been around a lot longer than me, and she's a lot smarter too.

Sing along in the age of paranoia

Odds 'n' ends...

Well, the missing Dodge has been found. Turns out it was taken by Mr. Smithers, the owner of the haunted amusement park. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for...

...oh wait, that's not it. What I meant was, my roommate took the license plates and his parking tag off in anticipation of having it towed to the junkyard. This turned out to be not such a good idea, because someone reported it as abandoned (even though we contacted three members of the condo board and told them what the situation was. Nobody is rushing forward to own up to it). The good news is that the insurance company offered him $2900 for the car (he paid $1800 for it a year ago). And the impound lot is right next door to the insurance adjusters' office.

No real news on the "projects" front, as the weather here has been terrible and is looking to get worse. The first rumblings of cabin fever have begun rattling around in my head, so I oughtta be in real good shape a few months from now. I wonder sometimes if my focus here should be more narrow and worry that I've gotten off-track lately, but I noticed a pretty good jump in traffic the past few weeks, so I guess I'm doing something right. I'll just keep rambling, let me know what you do/don't like.

Work continues on the studio, and I still fear losing my better judgment when it comes to buying gear. I decided to stop by the pawn shop the other day just to look around, and I left with a Fender combo amp, a Boss FZ-2 Hyper Fuzz pedal, and a Danelectro Tuna Melt tremolo pedal. I rationalized these purchases as best I can: 1.) I only paid $90 for the amp, which is the same price as the crappy practice amps with half the power that I have been looking at; 2.) The Hyper Fuzz is a bad-ass pedal (think The Melvins and Deftones) that is no longer in production, and I got it for $39; and 3.) the guy threw in the Danelectro for free, since it had a knob broken off (I had it dissembled and rigged a new knob in 15 minutes). Still, I think I'm gonna have to skip the big guitar show next month. I instructed the guy at the pawn shop to physically remove me from the premises if I show up in the next 30 days.

Since I liked the picture at Drew's site so much, I ripped him off and created a collage of some of the pieces that will be coming together in the home studio. (Please ignore the fact that he has lots of cool vintage gear, and mine is all crappy new stuff).



...oh yeah, one more thing. I would never advocate music piracy on a public web page (even though mashups shouldn't be considered piracy, but that's what all the hubbub is about), but "a friend of mine" downloaded American Edit by Team9 and Party Ben on Dean Gray Tuesday, and assures me it's amazing - he's been listening to it all week. There is already a ton of info out there about the album and the controversy surrounding it, so I won't get into that here. Needless to say you should find a copy and download it before the record companies stomp it into oblivion...

Lost: 1996 Dodge

So, Saturday before last, I ran out to Radio Shack (one of my thrice-weekly visits, as of late) to return something. It had been snowing/sleeting a little, but the roads seemed fine. Twenty minutes later, on the way home, they were terrible - I started sliding on a bridge, and I almost fell on my ass three times just trying to walk to my back door. I called my roommate and told him to be EXTREMELY careful on his way home from work.

Apparently he didn't take my advice, as he called me a little while later and said he slid off the road, and he needed me to call him a tow truck. Suddenly, I heard someone in the background say "He flipped it!" And my roommate said "I'll call you back" and hung up. I guess the story is: He slid off the road and came to rest right next to another guy, who had done the exact same thing minutes before - turns out he's one of our neighbors. While they're standing there figuring out what to do next, a car on the OTHER side of the highway (westbound) goes off the road, and flips over. My roommate & neighbor run across the highway to help them - the car was full of passengers, and one of them was extremely pregnant. While they are helping them, ANOTHER car goes off the road back in the eastbound lane. It also flips over, and LANDS DIRECTLY ON TOP OF MY ROOMMATES' CAR.

Needless to say, the car is totaled. The cops closed down the road, ambulances came to check everyone out (no one was badly hurt) and it took hours to sort everything out. Problem is, we can't find my roommate's car. It was sitting out front, now it's gone. The insurance company says they didn't tow it. The condo association says they didn't tow it. It definitely didn't go anywhere under its own power. Nobody would steal a totaled car, would they?

Bright antenna bristle with the energy

Many moons ago, I was a bass player. To be blunt, I was pretty lousy - strictly a root-fifth kinda player, but I enjoyed it. I had a couple of roommates who were a decent guitarist and a passable singer, respectively, and we would jam together once in a while.

The main reason I played bass was the same reason as 90% of all the bass players in the world - I was never a very good guitarist. Seriously, go see some local bands (you don't do that enough anyway) and talk to the bass players - almost all of them began as guitarists, but started "filling in" on bass as a necessity. Sure, there's the occasional guy who grew up obsessed with Geddy Lee or Jaco Pastorius, but those guys are weird and usually wind up composing sci-fi rock operas in their parents' basements. See, guitarists & singers are a dime a dozen. Drummers are pretty common, but are frequently replaced due to their tendency to drink all your beer & sleep with your girlfriend (but they're the ones with a van & a rehearsal space, so it's a fair trade). There is always a shortage of bass players, because nobody's that into it. I mean, really, if you were an average kid growing up in the suburban wasteland of America, did you wanna be Eric Clapton or Jack Bruce? Jimi Hendrix or Noel Redding? Eddie Van Halen or Michael Anthony? I rest my case. Nobody likes the bass player. That's okay, though, I looked at it as job security.

My favorite part was the gear - I had a beautiful Ibanez bass, as well as several others. I had an insanely large Trace Elliot amplifier rig that I got for a song when the company was sold off. And oh, the stompboxes. I had dozens of 'em. Everything from your everyday Boss & DOD effects to vintage Electro-Harmonix boxes and outrageously expensive pedals from boutique manufacturers. I had to build a massive pedalboard with a custom wiring system to hold 'em all. I would run a synth through a ring-mod through a flanger and just get the trippiest space-rock noises ever.

After getting out of school and suddenly finding myself with a job and a car and a mortgage, I didn't have much time to play and was pretty much perpetually broke. One day I was sitting in my home office, paying bills and generally lamenting my lack of funds, and my eyes wandered over to my gear. Thousands of dollars' worth, just sitting there, gathering dust. So I slowly sold all of it off via eBay, and that was that.

What's the point of all this? Well, as I've mentioned, I recently bought a new Mac. It came with the requisite (and handy) iLife apps, including iDVD and iPhoto, but the kicker was a relatively new addition: GarageBand. I opened it up and played with it a little. I like to edit together vacation videos & family photos into movies to give as stocking-stuffers, and initially I thought "This might be a cool way to add some simple background music". As I played with it a little more, I realized: I could actually do something with this, music-wise. Sure, it's not ProTools or Logic, but it's a surprisingly feature-rich program for home recording, considering it's free. It's light-years ahead of the little 4-track PortaStudios I used to play around with. And just like that, I was back into it. I bought a simple USB keyboard to use as a MIDI controller, but that wasn't enough - soon I was dusting off my old mics and heading to eBay to bid on some basic mixers and cables. My town is blessed (or cursed) with both Sam Ash and Guitar Center retail locations, and it wasn't long before I was headed their way (during a freak snowstorm, no less) - I needed a guitar. I am consciously trying to restrain my budget, so I bought the cheapest Strat they had in stock. I could practically feel my wallet itching at the effects counter, but I settled on the least expensive multi-effects pedal I could find. Weird, because I was always an analog snob before when it came to effects. I have started tearing my home office apart in order to dig out everything I'll be using, and to re-wire the computers to do what I need. It'll probably be awhile before I have anything I'm ready to share with the world, but someday I hope to post some stuff here. I will post some pictures of my "home studio" setup as soon as it's in order. The bad news is, the big Guitar Show is coming to town in a month - Lord help me...

Give till it hurts!

Just a quick note to mention that I just made my annual donation to Child's Play, a great charity started by the guys at Penny Arcade. I won't get into all the details here, as they do a great job explaining it at their site. If you're still looking for a worthy cause for the holidays, check 'em out.

10.9.1940 - 12.8.1980

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
A new one just begun
And so happy Christmas
We hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over, if you want it
War is over now

Happy Christmas

One-armed paper-hanger...

Sorry for the lack of conetent lately, I have been running around doing the Xmas shopping thang (just about done now) and working on a good bit of tinkering at home, the fruits of which will hopefully make it here before too long. I am also trying to get registered at the local college for some classes next quarter. In lieu of any actual news (and because Surly requested it) here are some random pics of Das Bus (which is actually kind of depressing right now - it won't start and I can't get motivated enough to go outside in 20-degree weather to work on it). Ah well...

Ah, the clean, classic lines of a refridgerator box...

No, the Westfalia decal and the rear emblem aren't correct for the year. I don't care, I like 'em.

The huge factory steering whell makes for a tight fit with us corn-fed Midwestern boys, so a smaller wheel from California Import Parts was added.

Swanky new seat covers go nicely with the zebra dash cover in the above pic. Can you sense the theme I'm going for?

She didn't come with a spare or a mount...

...so one was added...

...along with a snazzy cover (which was later vandalized by one of the little darlins in the neighborhood). They also stole my rear emblem and tried to rip off my country code sticker. Nice.

Black Sunshine Friday...

Hope everyone had a good holiday... I had to work, so it was hamburgers for Thanksgiving dinner for me. I had offers from family to join them, but everyone had at least two places to go - Since I worked third shift Wednesday, by the time I got up and drove for an hour, I only would have been able to spend about an hour with them, so I decided to pass. But I did get to go to my best friend's house on Saturday and see my godchildren, and that was great. I was having a REALLY terrible day, but when the world's most adorable 4-year-old greets you at the door with a big grin on her face, you forget all that.

I had been playing phone tag with the aforementioned 4-year-olds' father for a few days. I was surprised when my cell phone rang at around 6:30 AM Friday - It was him, and he seemed to be in some kind of stupor. I finally pieced together that he decided to go to Staples first thing Friday morning to get some unbelievable deal they had advertised in their flyer. The store opened at 6 AM, he arrived at 6:05, and they were already sold out of the item he wanted. This put him in an understandably foul mood, and, after telling me he would be around all weekend, he mumbled something about going back to bed and hung up.

This set a foreboding tone for the morning - I picked up a paper Thursday, because although I hate shopping, I love looking at all the shiny new stuff in the ads (this goes back to when I was a kid, when I would drag the Sears Wish Book out onto the living room floor and leaf through it for hours). Now, when I say I hate shopping, I don't mean I merely dislike it - depending on the store and the time of day, I get anxious and start sweating and can't look anyone in the eye and can't communicate beyond monosyllabic grunts until I GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE. I think it's that I have just a touch of agoraphobia and social anxiety and, combined with a genuine hatred of good-'ol American zombie-like consumerism, the average retail store creates a perfect storm of triggers. Wal-Mart & traditional shopping malls are the worst - I've only set foot in a shopping mall once in the past seven years. This isn't as much of a problem as you might think, since the Midwest is essentially one giant strip mall these days. However, I am, above all else, cheap - so when I saw some Pioneer bookshelf speakers that I had been drooling over on sale at Circuit City for ten bucks, I decided to swing by after getting off work at 7AM.

The parking lot was packed, but people were coming & going at a pretty good clip, so it didn't take long for something to open up. Walking in, I overhead someone ask an employee if they had any more of a particular digital camera left- the salesman said, "No, we had people getting in line at ELEVEN O'CLOCK LAST NIGHT for those". Jesus, people, it's JUST A CAMERA. It was FOURTEEN DEGREES out Thursday night. Act like you've got some goddamn dignity.

Luckily, the department I needed was relatively deserted (people were mobbing the DVD section) and the speakers were in stock, so the transaction was relatively painless. I did have to pay in the stereo department and go to the "customer pickup" window to get the speakers, and the two teenagers running back and forth to the warehouse looked like they were stoned to the gills and just barely keeping it together. I guess that's one way to deal with it...

Raised on Radio

I've been running around the last couple of days trying to get everything that needs done outside finished during these last few days of moderate weather - cleaning the patio, winterizing the bike, getting a last minute wash-'n-wax on the car, etc. The worst part of going on vacation is that When I get back, I feel like I am even further behind than before... They are predicting snow over the next few days, and I'm not looking forward to it.

On another note, I picked up a Sirius satellite radio the other day and have been playing around with it - pretty cool. (And no, my decision to go with Sirius over XM had nothing to do with Howard Stern - Sirius has NPR & BBC, XM doesn't). I've been thinking about it for a while, and they finally got cheap enough ($39.95 + a $10 mail-in rebate) that I decided to give it a shot. It's pretty cool, but on some level it's a really bad idea - you're giving me hundreds of channels of music and a remote control, allowing me to flip through the channels while I drive. I almost rear-ended a cop today while playing with it. And using the suction-cup mount to put it on the windshield next to my phone, my dashboard is starting to look like the Starship Enterprise. Just wait 'till I get the GPS unit for my Treo, I'll be a freakin' Circuit City on wheels.

One cool thing about it - I bought the Starmate receiver, which comes with all the car goodies and a built-in FM modulator (good thing, because the el-cheapo $50 CD player I have in my car just decided to stop ejecting CD's - I've been listening to Blast Tyrant for 4 days straight). I was going to buy the home kit, but they were out of stock. I'm glad they were, because the Sirius web site allows subscribers to listening to streaming audio from any computer. Cool. Now I just have to find a pair of speakers small enough to smuggle into work...

Project Files: Operation Rolling Dumpster

I have mentioned my Volkswagen Bus here several times before. Although I am pretty far from anything anyone would consider a "hippie", I have a great affection for air-cooled Volkswagens in general and the Type II in particular, mainly because they represent a level of mechanical accessibility & utilitarianism that just doesn't exist with modern vehicles. I could write a lengthy diatribe on the other reasons I enjoy classic Volkswagens and their owners, and perhaps one day I will. However, the point of this post is for you to see me get my hands dirty, so that will have to wait for another time.

One great thing about the Internet is that is bridges the void that exists between members of a sub-culture - for example, living in the Midwest, it is hard enough to find a vintage Volkswagen that still runs, and "clean, rust-free" examples don't exist here. That is not the case in the West and parts of the South, where many VW's can still be found on the road as daily drivers. One thing you can say about VW owners, they have embraced the Internet with unparalleled enthusiasm, as shown by such web sites as The Samba and the Type II mailing list.

One of the common problems with vintage VW's is that they are like driving a noisy icebox, due to the lack soundproofing & insulation. Many people have addressed these problems in their own way (it is a source of perpetual discussion on the mailing lists) but the definitive guide was written several years ago by a man named Matthew Bulley, who authored a very detailed website regarding his solutions to the problem. Unfortunately, several years ago Mr. Bulley's site disappeared from the Internet, but Jason at shagadelic.org was kind enough to rescue a copy from The Wayback Machine and host it on his servers. (You really should read it first, or this post won't make nearly as much sense. Besides, it's much more entertaining that you would expect). What follows is my attempts to complete an abbreviated version of Mr. Bulley's instructions. Why abbreviated? Well, two reasons: 1.) The original directions are very detailed and labor-intensive, and 2.) I am lazy. Also, I plan to renovate the interior of the Bus pretty extensively in the future, so it would be pointless for me to get too involved. Yeah, that's it... always thinking ahead.

The first step was obtaining the materials: First a product sold through JC Whitney (yeah, I know) as "NASA insulation":

Big hoarkin' roll of insulation.

(Note: Does anyone else find the idea that NASA uses products available at JC Whitney somewhat disquieting?) This stuff is made of ground-up chunks of foam (I'm guessing it's a way to put leftovers and odds-n-ends to use) bonded to a foil backing, with a grid of fiberglass mesh sandwiched between them to prevent it from falling apart. I don't know how much it helps structural integrity, but it sure makes it a bitch to cut. Here's a shot showing the back of the insulation:

The second major component is some type of soundproofing material:

Soundproofing, compliments of eBay.

This material is made of an asphalt emulsion bonded to a heavy-duty foil backing. The other side has a peel-off liner covering a self-adhesive coating:

I used to use this stuff a lot in high school, when high-end car stereos were my primary hobby. Back then it was only available under the brand name Dynamat, and it cost a fortune. Now there are many other brands, such as Roadkill, Brown Bread, and assorted generic varieties that all work well. Just search for "car soundproofing" on eBay and you'll get plenty of hits - just watch the shipping costs, they're a killer.

The basic idea is simple - peel the backing from the soundproofing, heat it up with a heat gun, and stick it to any exposed metal. I used a cheap heat gun I purchased from Harbor Freight (Harbor Freight & JC Whitney in ONE project?!?! Boy, I am doing my reputation wonders...) After that, use some 3M spray adhesive to attach a section of the NASA insulation over top of that. In theory, things are a little more time-consuming, all of that material needs to be cut to fit, and both the soundproofing and the insulation will destroy a high quality utility knife in short order. All in all, I spent the better part of three days crawling around inside the bus, and my hands were raw and bleeding when I finished. I tried to wear gloves, but they slowed me down too much, so I sucked it up.

Cutting the insulation for the passenger compartment.

Installing the soundproofing & insulation "sandwich" under the carpeting.

The rear compartment before...




...and after. This area got two layers of soundproofing, since it is directly over the engine.

The bottom of the closet also gets soundproofing...

...and insulation...

...as does the storage area under the rear seat.

The drivers' compartment floors "before". Note the blobby Frankenstein welding job by a previous owner to repair the floors.

...and after.

Passenger side also gets soundproofing...

...and insulation.

Interior of the sliding door before...

...and after. Several small patches were used here instead of one large one. Insulation was bonded to the wood paneling instead of the door itself.

...and that's about all the pictures I have. One detail I left out was that I used foil tape to seal the edges of the insulation to the soundproofing. I am pretty much to the end of the insulation, but have a bit of soundproofing left. It is definitely quieter than before, but I still have to do the entire interior wall on the drivers' side. That will require removing most of the interior, so I am waiting until I get to the bulk of the interior renovations for that. I would also like to insulate the roof, but I am playing with the idea of replacing it with diamond-plate steel... don't tell the VW guys, as the original whitewashed birch wood paneling is highly prized among purists.

If you read Bulley's article, there was a lot of detail about refurbishing the factory heating system so it does a better job. This is not an issue for me, since I don't have a factory heating system. Nada. None. Seems it was entirely removed by a previous owner (this is actually pretty common, as the VW heating systems were inefficient when poorly maintained, as most were). I have a portable propane heater in there now, but will try to piece together a new system when the new engine goes in.

Pavo cristatus

I got a package in the mail the other day - I'm not big on pimping others' stuff here, but this time it's deserving. Mentally Incontinent is a great project where Joe created a website for his stories, and allowed his readers to vote on them. The winners were published as a book. Joe's gift for writing is surpassed only by his ability to find himself in absurd situations. A lot of care went into the book, right down to the packaging tape (you'll understand when you buy a copy). Joe even put all 3,000 site members in the "thanks to" section. You should really buy the first book and get on board for Mentally Incontinent 2, which begins November 21st. Check it out.

Cyanoacrylates are hand-y...

Three of my fingernails are currently being held on with crazy glue.

I realize as I write this that there are two kinds of people in the world: Those that completely understand the set of circumstances that could lead to this and sympathize with me, and those that think the above sentence proves I am irrevocably batshit insane.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Product Review: Cycle Shelter

Recently I bought a Cycle Shelter motorcycle cover. Although I've mentioned it here before, until today it was actually still sitting in a box in my living room. Well, I finally got around to setting it up, so I thought I'd play motorcycle journalist (okay, intern maybe) and write a review.

Storing a bike when you don't have a garage is always a pain (unless the bike is a piece of shit, then you don't really care). However, my bike is not a piece of shit, and I'd like it to stay that way. In previous years I stored my bike at my parents' house, a couple of towns over. Due to a whole lotta reasons I won't go into right now, the bike was stored there for the better part of two years. Although it was in a garage, since I wasn't able to wash it or polish the copious amounts of chrome semi-regularly, there was some pretty bad oxidation in some places, to the point where a few pieces needed replaced (the old pieces will probably become an experiment with home powdercoating - stay tuned). I decided that I would need to find a storage solution that would allow me to store the bike securely, but still have it on the premises so I could give it some attention every so often (not to mention the occasional ride, should the temperatures rise to an acceptable level).

After some poking around on teh intarnets, I found the CycleShell enclosure. I thought it looked like a great idea (still do) but there were a few cons:

1.) It's pretty expensive ($375 for the size I needed):
2.) Shipping is pricey ($80 to a private residence - cheaper to a business address):
3.) There is a 2-week wait, as each one is custom-built.

I went to some of my favorite motorcycle forums and explained what I was looking for, and asked if anyone had any recommendations. I was told about two other covers I hadn't heard of before: The Bike Barn and the Cycle Shelter. The Bike Barn was ruled out almost immediately, as it doesn't have a "floor" - they claim that it is unnecessary, but I live right by a busy road with a perpetual construction site across the street, and EVERYTHING on my patio gets coated with dust in short, even if it's covered. I found the Bike Barn more interesting- it didn't look quite as sturdily constructed as the CycleShell, but it was available immediately for a lower price and was cheaper to ship. As money was a little tight that month, I decided to go with the Cycle Shelter.

Note: Originally I had a fairly pricey Dowco cover for my bike, but after a few seasons (and some run-ins with some territorial stray cats - ick) I decided to try washing it, and it dissolved in my washing machine. Since the summer I had been using a cheap & way-too-big cover I picked up at Sprawl Mart for fifteen bucks:

The bike in hiding.

It turned out to be a good time to change covers, as the lining in the windshield area of the above cover had just decided to fall apart, and it was getting nasty stuff all over my bike. So, the cover came off:

The V Star unleashed!

The first step was clearing the patio of most of the leaves that had accumulated lately, lest they rot underneath the enclosure:


The next step was laying out the fabric enclosure of the Cycle Shelter:



Those are the poles that act as internal support leaning against the side of the house. These are pretty much exactly like modern tent poles - a combination of aluminum and shock-corded fiberglass sections that snap together. They are labeled with a code that corresponds to the rest of the poles in each support. Although one set of poles in my shipment was missing its stickers, it wasn't hard to figure out which support they belonged to...The construction is very similar to a tent as well - it appears to be made of ripstop nylon with reinforced seams, a weather-resistant coating and a heavy-duty plastic "floor". I assembled the poles inside, as it was a pretty blustery 40 degrees outside. The poles slide into the fabric of the enclosure and are secured by a "pocket" at the pivot point and a hook-and-loop enclosure every couple of feet:



Now, it took me all of ten seconds to write that last sentence, but this was a serious pain in the ass. The poles fit TIGHT, and the hook-and-loop enclosures are industrial strength, but tiny enough that they are a pain to work with and kill your fingers. If you have obedient children or a petite mail-order asian bride, this would be the time to enlist their help. Overall, I would say assembly took me around two-and-a-half hours, start to finish.

Once you get the hang of assembly, it gets easier as you go. You are working with a big heap of fabric at first, but as you progress it starts to take shape and it is less of a chore to secure the poles.



After getting the first half of the poles secured, I would recommend partially opening the Cycle Shelter to get the supports "seated" along the reinforced seams (I didn't do this 'till later, and it took considerable wrestling). After assembly, it should look something like this:



Then, you simply ride the bike onto the enclosure...




...and close it like a big clamshell.



Sorry about the picture, but this thing is BIG, and I'm working in a pretty small space here. It's actually much bigger than I expected - I think you can see the peak of it over the top of my privacy fence. My condo association is pretty lenient, so I don't expect there to be any hassles, but if you lived in a hoity-toity development you might get some flack over this thing.

After you close it up, a series of clips sewn into the underside snaps onto the last support:

(Excuse my fat fingers).

There are velcro flaps along the top & bottom edges of the enclosure that appear as if they wouldn't close very well, but when you snap the clips into place it actually lines up pretty easily. The are vents at the peak of the enclosure on each side as well as a large one at the front. The Bike Barn people also included an "anchor kit" that consisted of basic tent stakes, nylon cord and some funky sliding grommets that I couldn't figure out what I was supposed to do with (no directions for this part beyond "Use the anchor kit to secure the enclosure". Gee, thanks). As I have this on my concrete patio, I'm not going to worry about it anyway - I will take the manufacturer's suggestion and pick up some tube-shaped sandbags to place along the outer edges to keep it secure. I also purchased their locking option for an extra ten bucks, which consisted of an extra-long Masterlock padlock that I can't figure out where to attach. Regardless, after assembly it seems pretty silly, as a thief could easily slash the fabric to get the cover off. Oh well, it's a nice padlock for the price, I'll find something to do with it. I noticed on the Cycle Shelter web page that they no longer offer the padlock, but now they have an electronic alarm for $50 with purchase, as well as some titanic locking wheel-chock thing that costs $225 and wouldn't work for me anyway, since I have spoked wheels (besides, I already have a Kryptonite disc lock that has served me well for years). They also offer a heater kit that looks interesting. Maybe I'll email them and see if they'll give me a break on the price of a heater and an electronic alarm, since they weren't offered when I ordered mine.

So, I guess the question is, is it worth it? Only time will tell - if it last for ten years, then yes. I hope it last for a good long while, and for the price it should. It will be nice to not have to mess with a traditional cover after riding, and not having to wait for the pipes to cool down before putting the bike away (since the sides of the enclosure don't touch the bike). So here's the skinny:

Pros:
-Quick & easy to put bike away, no waiting
-More secure than traditional covers
-Won't blow off when it's windy
-(seems) Sturdy

Cons:
-Expensive
-Assembly is a pain, minimal instructions
-Much bigger than I expected

Overall, I saved $135 by going with the Cycle Shelter over the CycleShell. Knowing now about the assembly process and construction, it's kind of a wash - if you're a cheapskate like me and an afternoon of crawling around on your patio is worth saving the money, go with the Cycle Shelter. If you want it quick & easy or have an employer that's cool with you getting packages at work so you can save a few bucks on shipping, go with the CycleShell.

UPDATE 03/21/06: As jimmy mentioned in the comments, I originally got my product names switched around, so I fixed that. According to my referral logs, some people are finding this page when looking for product info on enclosures, so it also gives me a chance to do a follow up of my experience with the Cycle Shelter. I have had problems with the design of the velcro around the bottom of the enclosure - it potentially could form a tight seal, but only if you take a loooong time crawling around on the ground to make sure it is all lined up exactly right - I opened the enclosure to hook up a battery tender after a few weeks with a lot of rain, and there was a puddle of standing water in the bottom. It is made even harder by the fact that with sandbags weighing down the bottom, the enclosure is very taut, making the velcro especially hard to secure at the corners - I actually jammed a towel in the space at one corner after getting frustrated with messing with the velcro for ten minutes. I have also had problems with water collecting on top of the enclosure - The sides of the "arch" formed by the support poles isn't steep enough in the back to allow water to run off fast enough. I solved that problem by undoing the hooks on one side of the second support - this creates a slope that allows the water to run off. It solved the problem, but it's not something I should have to deal with. Taking those issues into consideration, I would probably recommend the CycleShell over the Cycle Shelter - it is obvious from looking at the photos on their website that these would not be issues with their design.

Home again, home again

Made it back from vacation in one piece, although traveling yesterday was an exercise in frustation. I am off work today to unpack and get my bearings. I was able to do lots of shooting with both the 35mm & digital cameras (as well as the camera phone, check the MoBlog) so that was good. I have yet to develop the 35mm prints, below is my favorite shot from the digitals...

I was only a few feet away, but he didn't give a damn.

One amusing story that just popped into my head:

My stepdad asked me if I wanted to take my golf clubs on vacation, since there was a course at the resort. Now, I'm not that big on golf, but my father was, as is my stepdad and several of my friends - so, I have a set of clubs & I'll play when asked, otherwise I wouldn't see some of my friends for an entire summer. Thing is, I'm pretty lousy. I originally learned with a set of my dad's old clubs, even though I'm left-handed and he wasn't. Someone gave me a hand-me-down set of left-handed clubs a few years ago and I improved from "downright dangerous" to merely "sucks major ass". Anyways, we went and paid the man at the course, and since we had a half hour to kill before teeing off he gave us some balls to take to the driving range to get warmed up. I have a huge 450cc driver that I got for free a few years ago (long story) that I've never been able to hit worth a damn, but I figure it's just the driving range, so I get it out. Right as we start teeing up, a couple of groundskeepers start driving down the left side of the range in a cart. In a few seconds they are waaaay out there, like a couple hundred yards away. I jokingly said to my stepdad, "Five bucks to the first one who can hit 'em". I reared back and swung, not really aiming for anything, and the ball LEAPS off the club. I mean, it was amazing. I drove that ball 300 yards if it was an inch. It was like I was John Daly, without the chain smoking or raging alcoholism. And the ball is rapidly homing in DIRECTLY on these two guys in the cart. Just when I am starting to say "Oh sh-" the ball lands a few feet RIGHT IN FRONT of their cart. If I had swung a half-second later one of them would be in the hospital. My stepdad is rolling with laughter, I was just glad they didn't turn around and beat me senseless with their sand-trap rakes. Of course, I didn't hit the ball that good again for the rest of the day... hell, I'll probably NEVER hit the ball like that again.

Stay tuned, I will be posting another project file in the next few days...

Weather is here...

Made it to sunny FL okay. I have been up for about 40 hours straight in an effort to get my (usually nocturnal) internal clock in sync with everyone else. As I have been traveling all day and just ate my weight in fresh seafood & beer, it's off to bed...

To a strange and distant land...

Looks like the trip for the weekend is back on - gotta spend the next couple days packing, leaving instructions for my roommate so he doesn't kill the cats, and getting the photo gear together. The place we are staying is right next to a wildlife sanctuary, something I don't usually shoot - but I haven't had the real camera out in so long, it'll take me a while to figure it out. I bought a cheap Russian fisheye lens from eBay about a year ago and haven't had a chance to play with it yet, so I guess now's my chance. If I get any good pics I'll put them up here, but I will try to remember to post from the road and send some cell phone pics to the MoBlog (see link at right)...

November 8th

Wheelin' & Dealin'

Hmmmm. Although I still hope to start refurbishing Das Bas in the spring, I have a friend who recently got married and is making preparations to start a family - this includes looking for a bigger house and selling off his "impractical" cars & projects (this usually seems to be part of the deal, which must be why I'm still single). The Corvette is already gone, and he is now looking for a home for what was his first car - a 1950's era Buick. As he is rather attached to the car, there have been hints that the price might be more flexible for me rather than a stranger, since he would know it was being cared for & driven as opposed to being stripped or left to rot in a field. I have been hankering for a new project (the motorcycle deal I mentioned earlier doesn't look like it's gonna happen) but this might be a much bigger can of worms than I am prepared to open. We'll see...

I got nuthin'

Well, I got squat done this weekend, due to pulling some muscles in my neck/shoulder area that sends an exquisite pain shooting through me whenever I raise my arms or turn my head to the left. Thing is, I don't even remember how I did it - I don't recall having done anything particularly strenuous in the past few days, I just woke up and rolled over and YEOWCH!!! As my Dad used to say, "It's hell to get old, boy".

I did get the Mac hooked up, and am learning the in & outs - it's a very strange thing for me to feel out of my element when it comes to using a computer. Now, I don't claim to be a guru or anything, but computers have been a big part of my life for the past 25 years - from junior high, through college, and into my work. I am literally surrounded by dozens of computers at my desk at work:

Welcome, my friend, welcome tooo the machineeeeeen...

I put about as much actual thought into using a computer as a mechanic does when using a wrench, or a janitor does when using a broom - that is, none at all. It's just a tool that helps me do what I want to do. It gives me a whole new perspective to be apprehensive. I will do my best to remember it next time I find myself losing patience with someone I am trying to teach.

It's mostly fiddling around right now, and the stuff that's got me spooked is the little stuff - no taskbar at the bottom of the screen, minimize/maximize button in the wrong corners, etc. It will all work out with time. Oh, and I just noticed that the handy little "edit html" tools in Blogger are missing with the Mac web browser, so I'll have to try getting Firefox working again (I tried last night, but there's some bugs in the Mac version and I lost patience with it). Check back later in the week, there's more entertaining stuff coming, I promise. I snapped a few truly frightening "before" pictures of the office yesterday - I mean, seriously, you will lose all respect for me. Hopefully I can redeem myself with the "after"...

Project Files: CRX

Well, I got the Mac today, and probably only need to make one more trip to Rat Shack for some cables and fiddly bits. I'll probably spend most of the weekend playing with that, and due to an onset of Indian Summer in the Midwest, I might try to get in a ride or two on the bike if I have time. Since I have kinda been geeking out lately on this blog, here's some pics and info of a past project for the grease monkey crowd:

1991 Honda CRX

When I got out of school, I was driving a 1989 Firebird that was the biggest lemon I ever owned - it was costing me more in parts every month than most car payments. Since I was gainfully employed, I went out and leased a brand new Jeep Wrangler.

I liked the Jeep a lot, (especially in the winter, since I am usually branded an "essential" employee, and have to show up to work even during snow emergencies) but I was sick of making the payment after 4 years. So, when the lease was up, I set out to look for a cheap, reliable car that I could afford to pay cash for.

Now, even though I would love to drive a vintage Chevelle or C-10 pickup every day, in the real world it creates a host of problems - the cost of gas, repairs, and insurance & the need for a garage are just a few that I am not equipped to deal with right now. In my experience, "efficient & reliable" means Honda or Toyota. Since there are three Honda plants in my part of the state that employ thousands, even the most die-hard "Buy American" types around here hold Honda in high regard, and used parts abound.

It just so happened that a friend of mine had just bought his wife a new car - previously she was driving a 1991 Honda CRX that was her family's "spare" car. (They had three kids in college at the same time, so someone always needed a car). The good news is that since the car was only driven occasionally, it only had 60,000 original miles. The bad news is that since is was being used by college kids who didn't have a reputation for either driving skills or sobriety, it was dented & dinged just about everywhere. The last of the kids had just graduated, so the Honda wasn't needed anymore and was just taking up space. After some shrewd negotiating, my friend agreed to sell me the car for $800.

The CRX as it was delivered.

The first difficulty came the weekend I was to pick up the car - we were hit by a blizzard and the car was plowed under several feet of snow. While waiting for it to thaw, someone decided to smash the window and rip out the cheap stereo, also destroying the center console in the process. My friend lowered the price to $500 and told me to come pick it up while there was still something left.

There were two adantages to buying this car: 1.) due to the popularity of the CRX with the "Fast & Furious" crowd, repro panels were plentiful & cheap. 2.) I was working at a car dealership, so I had a source of tools & cheap labor for anything that was over my head. Over the next several months, I scoured the web buying the bulk of the parts I needed (fender, lights, center console, front bumper, misc. trim pieces, etc.)

Repairing the hood, marker lights, & bumper.

Side shot of the new fender after mounting.

Rear spoiler was added.

The CRX unibody frame has integrated drain channels for the sunroof models, which is what causes every single one of them to rust out at the left rear wheel well.

Just back from the paint shop. We did a lot of restorations at the dealership, so there was always someone willing to do a paintjob on the cheap to get their foot in the door.

As it is now (minus a few layers of dirt). It desperately needed new tires, and I got a deal on a set of old stock 16" Progressive wheels that was too good to pass up - with no power steering it handles like a racing cart.

So that's the saga of the CRX. Not really my style, but it was fun to do and is actually a blast to drive. The original owner of the car (my friend's father-in-law) saw it a year later, and kicked himself for letting them sell it to me. Not a week goes by without some pimply-faced teenager offering to buy it from me (I won't let them have it just so they can put a coffee-can exhaust and APC stickers all over it - overall it looks pretty much as it did stock, except for the wheels & spoiler). Lately my genetically-encoded vehicle lust has been kicking in (my father bought a new car every two years, like clockwork), but the Honda is too cheap to own for me to get rid of it. The plan is to drive it 'till the wheels fall off...