Another free Sunday with no plans. The weather started out a little chilly, but eventually warmed up into the low 60's around noon. Amber spent the morning in Shelbyville visiting some out-of-state relatives that were in town. I played with the thought of heading across the street for a game of golf or time at the driving range, but I couldn't get a hold of anyone to play with. Probably the biggest reason in dispatching the golf idea was the fact that my garage was looking pretty pitiful. It was bothering me quite a bit so I threw open the garage doors, turned up the radio, and started my spring cleaning ritual. Was certainly a good time to do it since the Neon is at the shop, leaving extra room to sort things out. I changed the layout of my workbench and some shelving to make things a little easier to access when I'm working out in the garage, and to save space. I spent the about the whole day moving, vacuuming, cleaning, and fixing little things around the garage. It's definately looking a lot better, plus I pinned up an American flag on the wall above where the Neon parks.
After finishing up the garage I remembered that the new H3 halogen headlamp for the Firebolt came in the mail on Friday, so I decided I'd fix the burnt out bulb. It was a simple procedure, but one that had to be figured out manually as there is no mention of headlight replacement in the owners manual. What would probably have been a $150 donation to the local Harley dealer turned out to be a 20 minute $40 fix in my garage. It doesn't get much better than that!
Amber and I noticed that one of our Mickey Mouse Platies in the aquarium was acting a bit strange, hiding in the corners of the tank and being pretty inactive. Ironically, it was the same fish that had established dominance of the group when I first brought them home. I named him Mickey since he's the leader of the pack, just like Mickey Mouse is the top icon for Disney. It looks like the other 4 fish must have gotten tired of his crap and finally laid a beating on him. It must have been one good fight, because Mickey seems terrified and would always hide in the corner of the tank behind the filter tubes. I netted him out of the community tank and put him in the quarantine tank to give him a chance to heal without further injury. His tail fin has been nipped off at the top, and his eyes are a bit glazed over. Let's hope for the best for Mickey, and that they can all get along one he's put back in the community tank. Otherwise I'll have to get some bigger fish in there to calm those Platies down. They are getting a little too spoiled being in that huge tank by themselves!
Until next time...
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Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
(14) SCCA Inspection, Indianapolis Youth Hockey City Championship, and a retirement party...
Today was one heck of a busy day! The Indianapolis region of the 'Sports Car Club of America' (SCCA) is holding their annual Technical Inspection for members before the racing season begins. I had been spending quite some time in the garage preparing for this. I did some upgrading to the suspension, fixed my muffler issue from the last race, and fabricated a better method of securing my battery and battery box to the car. I had a lot of headaches with wheel clearance on the back of the car that had me working all the way into last night to get the car capable of driving to Indy. The hard work paid off, as I had the car ready by 8pm last night, and was able to take Amber to the VFW for a couple celebratory cold ones.
We got up around 6:30 this morning and got cleaned up and ready for the day's events. I did a final check on the Neon, and we set out for Performance Driven in Indianapolis for the tech inspection. We arrived a bit early around 8am, but I guess the activities were not going to be kicking off until 9am. Amber and I just milled about their showroom and looked at their inventory and munched on some donuts. The two fellas who run the shop, Brian and Dave, are both avid racers and very involved in the racing community. They are also both very knowledgeable about Dodge Neons, as they both race the Neons in SCCA and NASA autocross and road racing events. Brian was previously an engineer for Arvin Suspension, and was on the design team for the Neon's suspension and exhaust.
The tech inspection went wonderfully, as my car was found to be within the regulations for my class. They put the sticker in my windshield, and I parked the car on the lift. I'm leaving the car at Performance Driven so that they can align the suspension and perform corner weighting adjustments to balance the car's handling. It should be ready to bring home around Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to driving it with a good alignment, as the trip up today was a bit uneasy with the alignment out of whack.
Around 10:00 we headed to the Pepsi Coliseum for CW's hockey game. It was quite a hassle finding a parking spot since the 'Garden & Patio Show' and 'Gun and Knife Show' were at full swing. After winning a game on wednesday night in Carmel, CW's team went on to the final city championship game today. His team is the Perry Stars, and the opponent is the other Perry team. It was quite a thrilling game, as the Stars got a lead of 2-0 in the first period, but was tied up 2-2 at the end of the first period. The second period was quite shaky as the opponents scored 2 more goals, leaving the Stars behind 4-2. The Stars picked up the pace and were able to score 4 more goals, ending the game victorious with a score of 6-4. There was a scare in the 2nd period as one of the opposing players fell on the ice and slid head first into the wall, knocking him unconscious. Medical personnel on-site evaluated him on the ice, and he eventually was able to get up and skate off the ice. He should be OK for the most part, perhaps a minor concussion, as he did have on a helmet. I've had some experience in the head trauma field, as I sustained a very similar injury (only without a helmet).
After the game ended we waited for CW to come out of the locker room for pictures and a congratulations. We trekked back to the car and headed to Morristown, IN for the retirement party of Amber's Grandfather. It was held at the American Legion and had quite a good turnout. I had a big plate of veggies & dip, cheeseball & crackers, and a couple scoops of yummy crockpot meatballs. We stayed until 4pm and decided we should head home before our fully bellies got the best of our energy resources.
What will happen tomorrow? Who knows! It's going to be another surprise day!
Until next time...
We got up around 6:30 this morning and got cleaned up and ready for the day's events. I did a final check on the Neon, and we set out for Performance Driven in Indianapolis for the tech inspection. We arrived a bit early around 8am, but I guess the activities were not going to be kicking off until 9am. Amber and I just milled about their showroom and looked at their inventory and munched on some donuts. The two fellas who run the shop, Brian and Dave, are both avid racers and very involved in the racing community. They are also both very knowledgeable about Dodge Neons, as they both race the Neons in SCCA and NASA autocross and road racing events. Brian was previously an engineer for Arvin Suspension, and was on the design team for the Neon's suspension and exhaust.
The tech inspection went wonderfully, as my car was found to be within the regulations for my class. They put the sticker in my windshield, and I parked the car on the lift. I'm leaving the car at Performance Driven so that they can align the suspension and perform corner weighting adjustments to balance the car's handling. It should be ready to bring home around Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to driving it with a good alignment, as the trip up today was a bit uneasy with the alignment out of whack.
Around 10:00 we headed to the Pepsi Coliseum for CW's hockey game. It was quite a hassle finding a parking spot since the 'Garden & Patio Show' and 'Gun and Knife Show' were at full swing. After winning a game on wednesday night in Carmel, CW's team went on to the final city championship game today. His team is the Perry Stars, and the opponent is the other Perry team. It was quite a thrilling game, as the Stars got a lead of 2-0 in the first period, but was tied up 2-2 at the end of the first period. The second period was quite shaky as the opponents scored 2 more goals, leaving the Stars behind 4-2. The Stars picked up the pace and were able to score 4 more goals, ending the game victorious with a score of 6-4. There was a scare in the 2nd period as one of the opposing players fell on the ice and slid head first into the wall, knocking him unconscious. Medical personnel on-site evaluated him on the ice, and he eventually was able to get up and skate off the ice. He should be OK for the most part, perhaps a minor concussion, as he did have on a helmet. I've had some experience in the head trauma field, as I sustained a very similar injury (only without a helmet).
After the game ended we waited for CW to come out of the locker room for pictures and a congratulations. We trekked back to the car and headed to Morristown, IN for the retirement party of Amber's Grandfather. It was held at the American Legion and had quite a good turnout. I had a big plate of veggies & dip, cheeseball & crackers, and a couple scoops of yummy crockpot meatballs. We stayed until 4pm and decided we should head home before our fully bellies got the best of our energy resources.
What will happen tomorrow? Who knows! It's going to be another surprise day!
Until next time...
Sunday, March 15, 2009
(13) Birthday Cookout, Motorcycles, and an update on the aquarium...
This weekend started with no plans at all, which can often lead to some of the most entertaining and exciting weekends. Not to say that this weekend was a thrill ride, but it was fun taking things as they came and riding the waves.
Saturday:
We started off with a trip to Indianapolis for the Harbor Freight sidewalk sale event. Harbor Freight is a dangerous place for a fix-it-yourself kinda guy. It is loaded to the gills with budget tools from a simple hammer to full machining tools. Anything and everything a guy could ever need can be found at Harbor Freight, and usually for a great price! Of course, some products are of inferior quality versus big name tool brands. I had purchased a wall-mountable 50ft retractable electrical extension cord that had stopped reeling itself back in. I decided today I would return it since they were having the annual sidewalk sale. The return was fairly quick and simple despite long lines at the registers due to the event. Amber and I made a trip around the store and checked everything out, but there just wasn't anything I really needed. This is mostly because I've got my garage well stocked in Harbor Freight products. There's not much more I could ever need, so we decided to head back down to Greenwood to scour the pet stores for deals on tropical fish for the aquarium.
We stopped by PetSmart first, and I noticed that they had the Cardinal Tetras that I like, but for $3.99 each! That's highway robbery! Our next stop was Uncle Bill's Pet Store. They had a nice selection of fish in well maintained tanks, but no deals on the fish we were looking for. We did notice some fish that had been 'tatooed' (dyed) with numbers on their sides for the NASCAR fans. I'm not much into NASCAR, but perhaps I should get a fish tatooed with my Autocross number '98'! We'll see I guess, as I should probably wait and figure out which of my fish is the fastest, and award him with my beloved racing number.
It was a little after 3pm, and we had an invitation to a birthday cookout for one of Amber's friends and coworker. The weather was nice, around 53 and sunny, so we headed home to get the Buell Firebolt and ride to the party in Shelbyville. Halfway to Shelbyville the clouds roll in and block the warm sunlight and bring in some cool breezes. It was a bit nippy as we made it into Shelbyville. We hung out at the party for about 45 minutes, and I decided to split and get the motorcycle home before it got unbearably cold. I rode home shivering, jumped in the Subaru, cranked on the heated seat, and headed back to the party. We sat around the campfire socializing and munching on BBQ beef brisket, crackers and cheeseball, and drinking beer. Mine of course was the root beer type since I was driving. We stayed until around 7:30 and headed home. I was digging the campfire so much that I decided to get a fire going in my fireplace and relax with an ice cold glass of Captain Morgan and Coca Cola, and read the new Maximum PC magazine that came in the mail. I got a call from my Dad, who asked me if I could take a look at his Saturn L200 that had developed a shimmy in the steering. He brought the Saturn over and took my Subaru home, so that I could get an early start on the car Sunday morning.
Sunday:
I woke up feeling pretty chipper around 8:15 this morning, so I got up and threw on some garage workin' clothes. I started a pot of coffee and set out to dissect this sickly Saturn L200 in my garage. I got the front end up on jackstands and proceeded to apply the old side-to-side and top-to-bottom shake tests on the tires in hopes of finding a bad tie rod component, or failing wheel bearing. To my surprise, the steering was tight as could be, and there was no signs of bearing failure. I pulled off the wheels to inspect the brakes for perhaps a warped rotor or damaged half-shaft. No problems whatsoever. I decide I had better take a closer look at those wheels and tires that I just pulled of, thinking perhaps a counterweight had fallen off and thrown a wheel out of balance. All the weights were in place, but I took notice that the tires were badly warped and swelling. It looks like I've found the culprit in the case of the steering wheel shimmy. Lucky enough for Dad, as a bad steering component or wheel bearing would have cost a bit of money, and required a new alignment after repair. Luckily he only needs to get new tires mounted and balanced. We found him a good deal on tires for Monday.
It was only about 10:30 am, and the weather outside was lovely, so we decided we'd saddle up on our iron horses and go for a motorcycle ride. I spent about an hour cleaning up the Firebolt while Dad drove his Saturn home to get his motorcycle. About a dozen Armor-All cleaning wipes and some shop towels had the bike looking nice and clean. We rode down State Road 135 south, took State Road 58 west to Interstate 65, which we followed north to US 31 back home. It was about a 3 hour ride, and we traded bikes once we hit SR 58. The trees are still bare, but the grass is starting to get some green coloring. It should be a breathtaking ride in a couple months.
After we got home, Amber cooked up a special hamburger recipe from the 'Taste of Home' magazine. I snapped some new pictures of the aquarium to share with you guys. Its pretty much completely decorated, and is now home to five 'Mickey Mouse' Platie Fish! They get their name from the Mickey Mouse head shape on their tailfin. They are some active fish, a real hoot to watch!
Hope you enjoy the pictures!
Until next time...
Saturday:
We started off with a trip to Indianapolis for the Harbor Freight sidewalk sale event. Harbor Freight is a dangerous place for a fix-it-yourself kinda guy. It is loaded to the gills with budget tools from a simple hammer to full machining tools. Anything and everything a guy could ever need can be found at Harbor Freight, and usually for a great price! Of course, some products are of inferior quality versus big name tool brands. I had purchased a wall-mountable 50ft retractable electrical extension cord that had stopped reeling itself back in. I decided today I would return it since they were having the annual sidewalk sale. The return was fairly quick and simple despite long lines at the registers due to the event. Amber and I made a trip around the store and checked everything out, but there just wasn't anything I really needed. This is mostly because I've got my garage well stocked in Harbor Freight products. There's not much more I could ever need, so we decided to head back down to Greenwood to scour the pet stores for deals on tropical fish for the aquarium.
We stopped by PetSmart first, and I noticed that they had the Cardinal Tetras that I like, but for $3.99 each! That's highway robbery! Our next stop was Uncle Bill's Pet Store. They had a nice selection of fish in well maintained tanks, but no deals on the fish we were looking for. We did notice some fish that had been 'tatooed' (dyed) with numbers on their sides for the NASCAR fans. I'm not much into NASCAR, but perhaps I should get a fish tatooed with my Autocross number '98'! We'll see I guess, as I should probably wait and figure out which of my fish is the fastest, and award him with my beloved racing number.
It was a little after 3pm, and we had an invitation to a birthday cookout for one of Amber's friends and coworker. The weather was nice, around 53 and sunny, so we headed home to get the Buell Firebolt and ride to the party in Shelbyville. Halfway to Shelbyville the clouds roll in and block the warm sunlight and bring in some cool breezes. It was a bit nippy as we made it into Shelbyville. We hung out at the party for about 45 minutes, and I decided to split and get the motorcycle home before it got unbearably cold. I rode home shivering, jumped in the Subaru, cranked on the heated seat, and headed back to the party. We sat around the campfire socializing and munching on BBQ beef brisket, crackers and cheeseball, and drinking beer. Mine of course was the root beer type since I was driving. We stayed until around 7:30 and headed home. I was digging the campfire so much that I decided to get a fire going in my fireplace and relax with an ice cold glass of Captain Morgan and Coca Cola, and read the new Maximum PC magazine that came in the mail. I got a call from my Dad, who asked me if I could take a look at his Saturn L200 that had developed a shimmy in the steering. He brought the Saturn over and took my Subaru home, so that I could get an early start on the car Sunday morning.
Sunday:
I woke up feeling pretty chipper around 8:15 this morning, so I got up and threw on some garage workin' clothes. I started a pot of coffee and set out to dissect this sickly Saturn L200 in my garage. I got the front end up on jackstands and proceeded to apply the old side-to-side and top-to-bottom shake tests on the tires in hopes of finding a bad tie rod component, or failing wheel bearing. To my surprise, the steering was tight as could be, and there was no signs of bearing failure. I pulled off the wheels to inspect the brakes for perhaps a warped rotor or damaged half-shaft. No problems whatsoever. I decide I had better take a closer look at those wheels and tires that I just pulled of, thinking perhaps a counterweight had fallen off and thrown a wheel out of balance. All the weights were in place, but I took notice that the tires were badly warped and swelling. It looks like I've found the culprit in the case of the steering wheel shimmy. Lucky enough for Dad, as a bad steering component or wheel bearing would have cost a bit of money, and required a new alignment after repair. Luckily he only needs to get new tires mounted and balanced. We found him a good deal on tires for Monday.
It was only about 10:30 am, and the weather outside was lovely, so we decided we'd saddle up on our iron horses and go for a motorcycle ride. I spent about an hour cleaning up the Firebolt while Dad drove his Saturn home to get his motorcycle. About a dozen Armor-All cleaning wipes and some shop towels had the bike looking nice and clean. We rode down State Road 135 south, took State Road 58 west to Interstate 65, which we followed north to US 31 back home. It was about a 3 hour ride, and we traded bikes once we hit SR 58. The trees are still bare, but the grass is starting to get some green coloring. It should be a breathtaking ride in a couple months.
After we got home, Amber cooked up a special hamburger recipe from the 'Taste of Home' magazine. I snapped some new pictures of the aquarium to share with you guys. Its pretty much completely decorated, and is now home to five 'Mickey Mouse' Platie Fish! They get their name from the Mickey Mouse head shape on their tailfin. They are some active fish, a real hoot to watch!
Hope you enjoy the pictures!
Until next time...
Sunday, March 8, 2009
(12) Great Garage Weather
First off, I'd like to take a moment to celebrate the passing of a very cold February. I'm already beginning to like March with more moderate temperatures, and especially, for this weekend of temps in the mid 60's!
Friday after work, I drove home in the Subaru with the sunroof open! It was refreshing. I pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door. As the door raises, my eyes are drawn straight to the bright yellow Buell Firebolt motorcycle, almost as if it were purposely seducing me. I ask Amber if she'd like to go for a little ride, and she was up for it. We suited up in our safety gear and let the Harley V-Twin engine sing. We rode around Franklin a little bit, and then I decided I'd take one of my favorite routes, state road 44 to Martinsville. We rode about 15 miles towards Martinsville on SR44, enjoying the view and curvy road until we noticed some daunting clouds rolling in. We decided to turn around and head back for home. We still got a good hour of riding in, and it makes me very anxious for more good weather, and some leaves on the trees!
Saturday was such a beautiful day. I got up around 8am and went straight to the garage and opened the garage door. It was a perfect balance of temperature and humidity. I had nothing planned for the day, and decided I'd spend the day cleaning up the garage and tending to some automotive chores. I started by pulling all the vehicles out into the driveway. Then with the push-broom I swept up all the loose dirt and leaves. Some cat litter to soak up oil the famous Chrysler oil spots under the Neon, and the floor is now ready for a scrubbin'. With the hose hooked up to my utility sink, I presoaked the floors, and then added the orange degreasing soap. Every inch of the floor got scrubbed down, and then rinsed out the doors. Finally a squeegee finishes off the floor, pushing the excess water outside. About 30 minutes later, the floor is dry and the vehicles come back inside.
I decided I'd break this clean floor in by replacing the suspension on the race car. It still has the factory struts with about 80,000 miles on them, and a set of Mopar High Rate performance coilsprings that have been in use for about 20,000 miles. The suspension is still holding up pretty well, but being that the Neon was still a daily driver I had went with a balance between performance and comfort. Now that the Neon is primarily just a weekend racer, it's time to get a little more serious towards the performance end. I got in on a group buy back in 2005 on a set of KSport fully adjustable coilovers. This suspension is much more tailored for the track, as the spring rates are almost 3 times as stiff as the Mopar springs, and the shocks are 36-way rebound and dampening adjustable, as well as the ride height being fully adjustable by about 4 inches. Not to mention the weight savings of about 12 pounds per unit. This allows for much finer tuning of the suspension on the racetrack, and to adjust for different conditions.
Also being upgraded is the rear sway bar, from the stock 15mm bar to a 19mm bar from Eibach. I also have a 24mm bar for when I need even more control in the back end, but for now I'm going to start with the Eibach. I am also installing front and rear strut tower braces from Megan Racing to prevent chassis flexing under hard corning conditions.
I started by putting the entire car on jackstands to get the suspension up to a comfortable working level. The air impact gun made quick work of removing the lugnuts, and the wheels were off in no time. I started with the front suspension, removing the old strut/springs and bolting in the coilovers. I also fitted and installed the strut tower brace. Then on to the rears for the same process, and then replacing the rear sway bar and end link hardware with sturdier aluminum pieces. Finally, I reattached the brake line brackets and tested the steering travel to make sure there were no interference issues. Overall it was a fairly simple procedure, with only a few snags with some rusted and broken bolts. I took my sweet time and finished just in time to come in and get cleaned up for dinner.
We had dinner with another couple that we went to school with at the Hooters restaraunt in Greenwood. The gal's name is Jeana, and has been Amber's best friend for years. Her husband, Andrew, went to school with me, in the same class. I haven't seen him since high school. It was nice to see them again and enjoy some friendly conversation over Hooters chicken wings. Afterwards, Amber and I walked to the PetCo just across the parking lot to look at fishies and aquarium supplies. We got some ideas on a few things, but noticed that its much cheaper to order online, so the only thing I purchased was an 'Animal Planet' book on freshwater aquariums.
Sunday was just a relaxing day of sleeping in, grocery shopping, getting a haircut, and running some errands. We had a bargain lunch at Steak & Shake courtesy of some coupons I got in the mail. I picked up a small 1.5 gallon fish tank at Walmart for $20 that came with a filter, heater, air pump, light, food, and water treatment. After reading the book I got last night, I learned that it is essential to have a small tank for quarantining new fish and sick fish. This allows you to keep new fish separate for a couple weeks as they grow strong, and to identify any sickly or diseased fish before you add them to your community tank and infect your whole collection. It is also used for treating a sick fish from your community tank. I also picked up 10 Tetra fish to get started in the new tank, but all but one died. I should have known better than to get fish from Walmart. Maybe they were in shock from the change in atmosphere, or perhaps the city water in Franklin isn't fish friendly (although I treated it). Oh well, I bet the one that lasted is enjoying the pool all to himself!
Update on the big 75 gallon tank: I got most of my supplies in from PetCo, and got the gravel in, along with several fake plants and a phony coral rock. I lined the front of the tank with 3" foreground vegetation, and put the 18" plants on one side of the tank. The book says some fish like plantlife, while others like caves and toys, so I figured I'd go half and half. Plants on one side, and a jungle gym on the other. I found a really cool castle at PetCo, but ordered it online to save $10. Hopefully by next weekend I'll be ready to add some fish! Stay tuned!
Hope you enjoy the pictures that go along with the story, and remember to click on the slideshow to view the pictures much larger!
Until next time...
Friday after work, I drove home in the Subaru with the sunroof open! It was refreshing. I pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door. As the door raises, my eyes are drawn straight to the bright yellow Buell Firebolt motorcycle, almost as if it were purposely seducing me. I ask Amber if she'd like to go for a little ride, and she was up for it. We suited up in our safety gear and let the Harley V-Twin engine sing. We rode around Franklin a little bit, and then I decided I'd take one of my favorite routes, state road 44 to Martinsville. We rode about 15 miles towards Martinsville on SR44, enjoying the view and curvy road until we noticed some daunting clouds rolling in. We decided to turn around and head back for home. We still got a good hour of riding in, and it makes me very anxious for more good weather, and some leaves on the trees!
Saturday was such a beautiful day. I got up around 8am and went straight to the garage and opened the garage door. It was a perfect balance of temperature and humidity. I had nothing planned for the day, and decided I'd spend the day cleaning up the garage and tending to some automotive chores. I started by pulling all the vehicles out into the driveway. Then with the push-broom I swept up all the loose dirt and leaves. Some cat litter to soak up oil the famous Chrysler oil spots under the Neon, and the floor is now ready for a scrubbin'. With the hose hooked up to my utility sink, I presoaked the floors, and then added the orange degreasing soap. Every inch of the floor got scrubbed down, and then rinsed out the doors. Finally a squeegee finishes off the floor, pushing the excess water outside. About 30 minutes later, the floor is dry and the vehicles come back inside.
I decided I'd break this clean floor in by replacing the suspension on the race car. It still has the factory struts with about 80,000 miles on them, and a set of Mopar High Rate performance coilsprings that have been in use for about 20,000 miles. The suspension is still holding up pretty well, but being that the Neon was still a daily driver I had went with a balance between performance and comfort. Now that the Neon is primarily just a weekend racer, it's time to get a little more serious towards the performance end. I got in on a group buy back in 2005 on a set of KSport fully adjustable coilovers. This suspension is much more tailored for the track, as the spring rates are almost 3 times as stiff as the Mopar springs, and the shocks are 36-way rebound and dampening adjustable, as well as the ride height being fully adjustable by about 4 inches. Not to mention the weight savings of about 12 pounds per unit. This allows for much finer tuning of the suspension on the racetrack, and to adjust for different conditions.
Also being upgraded is the rear sway bar, from the stock 15mm bar to a 19mm bar from Eibach. I also have a 24mm bar for when I need even more control in the back end, but for now I'm going to start with the Eibach. I am also installing front and rear strut tower braces from Megan Racing to prevent chassis flexing under hard corning conditions.
I started by putting the entire car on jackstands to get the suspension up to a comfortable working level. The air impact gun made quick work of removing the lugnuts, and the wheels were off in no time. I started with the front suspension, removing the old strut/springs and bolting in the coilovers. I also fitted and installed the strut tower brace. Then on to the rears for the same process, and then replacing the rear sway bar and end link hardware with sturdier aluminum pieces. Finally, I reattached the brake line brackets and tested the steering travel to make sure there were no interference issues. Overall it was a fairly simple procedure, with only a few snags with some rusted and broken bolts. I took my sweet time and finished just in time to come in and get cleaned up for dinner.
We had dinner with another couple that we went to school with at the Hooters restaraunt in Greenwood. The gal's name is Jeana, and has been Amber's best friend for years. Her husband, Andrew, went to school with me, in the same class. I haven't seen him since high school. It was nice to see them again and enjoy some friendly conversation over Hooters chicken wings. Afterwards, Amber and I walked to the PetCo just across the parking lot to look at fishies and aquarium supplies. We got some ideas on a few things, but noticed that its much cheaper to order online, so the only thing I purchased was an 'Animal Planet' book on freshwater aquariums.
Sunday was just a relaxing day of sleeping in, grocery shopping, getting a haircut, and running some errands. We had a bargain lunch at Steak & Shake courtesy of some coupons I got in the mail. I picked up a small 1.5 gallon fish tank at Walmart for $20 that came with a filter, heater, air pump, light, food, and water treatment. After reading the book I got last night, I learned that it is essential to have a small tank for quarantining new fish and sick fish. This allows you to keep new fish separate for a couple weeks as they grow strong, and to identify any sickly or diseased fish before you add them to your community tank and infect your whole collection. It is also used for treating a sick fish from your community tank. I also picked up 10 Tetra fish to get started in the new tank, but all but one died. I should have known better than to get fish from Walmart. Maybe they were in shock from the change in atmosphere, or perhaps the city water in Franklin isn't fish friendly (although I treated it). Oh well, I bet the one that lasted is enjoying the pool all to himself!
Update on the big 75 gallon tank: I got most of my supplies in from PetCo, and got the gravel in, along with several fake plants and a phony coral rock. I lined the front of the tank with 3" foreground vegetation, and put the 18" plants on one side of the tank. The book says some fish like plantlife, while others like caves and toys, so I figured I'd go half and half. Plants on one side, and a jungle gym on the other. I found a really cool castle at PetCo, but ordered it online to save $10. Hopefully by next weekend I'll be ready to add some fish! Stay tuned!
Hope you enjoy the pictures that go along with the story, and remember to click on the slideshow to view the pictures much larger!
Until next time...
Sunday, March 1, 2009
(11) Downtown Indianapolis treats, and a visit with Uncle Bill...
Hey folks! It's another weekend, and another bunch of exciting escapades.
Friday: After work Amber and I stopped by Arby's for a low-budget dinner, using some coupons I had gotten in the mail. Even better was that the young fella running the cash register had gotten confused over the coupons, and forgot to charge us for one of our milkshakes, so we got that on the house. We both ate a nice dinner for just over 7 bucks total. Leaving Arby's, I noticed that the new Goodwill store they had been building next door was finally open for business. We stepped in to see if we could find any hidden treasures, but we didn't. We went on to Kroger to do my weekly grocery shopping. The evening was finished off with a movie on the big screen, which was the flick '14:08'. Its a pretty creepy film.
Saturday: Today started off with a trip into Shelbyville to check on Amber's mother's kitty cat. Amber restocked the food and water bowls and we entertained him for about a half hour. I decided we'd stop by and visit Grandma Cole while we were in town. We visited for about an hour, and I gave her a box of 'Thin Mint' Girl Scout cookies that I had brought from home. We decided to go out for a late lunch at the Chicken Inn. I had a full plate with 3 chicken breasts, mashed potatoes & gravy, and green beans. It was a belly buster. We headed back to grandma's to relax for a bit and let the food settle in our bellies. I had read online earlier that the Indiana Ice hockey team was having their annual 'Pack the House' game at Conseco Fieldhouse tonight, so I called up my dad and little brother to ask them if they'd like to go. They were all for it, so we had to get moving, as it was approaching 6pm, and the game started at 7:30. Grandma had asked if I could hook up a new TV for her, so I got that done in a flash right before we left to pick up my dad, CW, and Ryan (my step-sister's husband).
It turned into a boys night out at the hockey game, but Amber didn't mind tagging along. We all piled into the Subaru and headed north for Conseco Fieldhouse. It took a little driving around to find a parking garage with vacancies, but we finally managed to find a place to park to the tune of $10, but it was only about a block and a half from the fieldhouse. We scurried to Conseco, and I walked straight up to the ticket counter to purchase the tickets. Unfortunately, the only seats available were in the balcony, which is about as high as you can get. We made our way to our seats and the game had just began. It was quite a thrilling game, but the Ice lost 2-1 to the Cedar Rapids 'Rough Riders' from Iowa. The game was over around 9:30, and we dropped the guys back off at Dad's house. Amber and I decided to stop by Walmart on the way home to pick up a couple things left on the shopping list, and I wanted to look for a movie called 'Zack and Miri' that was highly recommended by Bob and Tom on a radio show during my morning commute. We made it home and watched the movie, and it was a flop. Oh well.
Sunday: I had gotten a couple free tickets to the Indiana Home and Garden show at the Indiana Convention Center being held this weekend. I checked online to see what they had to offer, and noticed that they had garage organization products. I've been eyeing different options for my garage and thought this might be a good opportunity to see what is available, and see it in person. We drove up to downtown Indianapolis again, and had a much better time finding a garage to park in, although it was still $10 for event parking. We make a brisk walk across the street to the convention center, and hunt down the Home and Garden Show in the maze of hallways and conference rooms. We finally get to the show, and make a trip down all the isles checking out the different vendors. There was a whole slew of vendors selling windows, patios, decks, sheds, gutter guards, water softeners, humidifiers, and more. Hell, we even saw the ShamWow demonstration again. What we couldn't find, however, was a single booth that had anything to do with garages. No overhead door companies, no shelving companies, no floor sealers, or cabinets. I was a little perturbed after walking through the whole show, not finding a single thing I was looking for.
We decided to skip that joint and take the skywalk to the Circle Center Mall. We perused the mall a bit, and stopped by Johnny Rockets for a burger and fries 50's style. My mind drifted on to thinking about how I miss the warm weather in Florida and the water and the fish. I guess I can blame this on Grandpa Lahrman, who had just sent me a couple envelopes in the mail with pictures from our vacation in Florida. I got to remembering my old aquarium I had back in the day, and kinda thought I'd like to get another aquarium going. They are so colorful and lively, and a great way to bring a little of Florida to my home. So, we decided we've had enough of downtown Indianapolis for one weekend, and headed south to Greenwood to visit a place called 'Uncle Bill's Pet Center'. I've been in there a few times before checking out big aquariums, and they seemed to have some pretty nice deals. We walked around the store a bit, scoping out the many varieties of aquariums. I came across a special they were having on a 75 gallon aquarium, with a lighted hood and cabinet stand for $399. It seemed to be quite a deal, and was about perfect size for my living room. We got everything loaded into the Subaru and headed home. Everything was pretty much preassembled, which was nice. Amber helped me stack the pieces together, and clean up the glass. I did some more online shopping at PetCo for a filtration system, aeration system, cleaning supplies, rock, and plants. PetCo was having a good sale as well, up to 40% off. The filtration system I chose was $229 at Bill's, but I snagged it up for $169 at PetCo. All the fixins for my 'paradise' shrine came to $370. Its a bet of a blow to the wallet, but this tank will not only look great, but it will damn near take care of itself. That is the biggest selling point for me, as my terrible memory and busy schedule is a sure formula for dead fish. So I won't have to tend to it much more than tossing in some food. I also wanted to make sure that everything was compatible with both fresh and salt water applications, in case I want to change things up down the road for some more exotic salt-water fish. Maybe some sheephead, snook, or mullet! Ha! Anyhow, it'll take a bit of time before its a standalone work of art. For now, we'll wait on our shipment from PetCo.
Until next time...
Friday: After work Amber and I stopped by Arby's for a low-budget dinner, using some coupons I had gotten in the mail. Even better was that the young fella running the cash register had gotten confused over the coupons, and forgot to charge us for one of our milkshakes, so we got that on the house. We both ate a nice dinner for just over 7 bucks total. Leaving Arby's, I noticed that the new Goodwill store they had been building next door was finally open for business. We stepped in to see if we could find any hidden treasures, but we didn't. We went on to Kroger to do my weekly grocery shopping. The evening was finished off with a movie on the big screen, which was the flick '14:08'. Its a pretty creepy film.
Saturday: Today started off with a trip into Shelbyville to check on Amber's mother's kitty cat. Amber restocked the food and water bowls and we entertained him for about a half hour. I decided we'd stop by and visit Grandma Cole while we were in town. We visited for about an hour, and I gave her a box of 'Thin Mint' Girl Scout cookies that I had brought from home. We decided to go out for a late lunch at the Chicken Inn. I had a full plate with 3 chicken breasts, mashed potatoes & gravy, and green beans. It was a belly buster. We headed back to grandma's to relax for a bit and let the food settle in our bellies. I had read online earlier that the Indiana Ice hockey team was having their annual 'Pack the House' game at Conseco Fieldhouse tonight, so I called up my dad and little brother to ask them if they'd like to go. They were all for it, so we had to get moving, as it was approaching 6pm, and the game started at 7:30. Grandma had asked if I could hook up a new TV for her, so I got that done in a flash right before we left to pick up my dad, CW, and Ryan (my step-sister's husband).
It turned into a boys night out at the hockey game, but Amber didn't mind tagging along. We all piled into the Subaru and headed north for Conseco Fieldhouse. It took a little driving around to find a parking garage with vacancies, but we finally managed to find a place to park to the tune of $10, but it was only about a block and a half from the fieldhouse. We scurried to Conseco, and I walked straight up to the ticket counter to purchase the tickets. Unfortunately, the only seats available were in the balcony, which is about as high as you can get. We made our way to our seats and the game had just began. It was quite a thrilling game, but the Ice lost 2-1 to the Cedar Rapids 'Rough Riders' from Iowa. The game was over around 9:30, and we dropped the guys back off at Dad's house. Amber and I decided to stop by Walmart on the way home to pick up a couple things left on the shopping list, and I wanted to look for a movie called 'Zack and Miri' that was highly recommended by Bob and Tom on a radio show during my morning commute. We made it home and watched the movie, and it was a flop. Oh well.
Sunday: I had gotten a couple free tickets to the Indiana Home and Garden show at the Indiana Convention Center being held this weekend. I checked online to see what they had to offer, and noticed that they had garage organization products. I've been eyeing different options for my garage and thought this might be a good opportunity to see what is available, and see it in person. We drove up to downtown Indianapolis again, and had a much better time finding a garage to park in, although it was still $10 for event parking. We make a brisk walk across the street to the convention center, and hunt down the Home and Garden Show in the maze of hallways and conference rooms. We finally get to the show, and make a trip down all the isles checking out the different vendors. There was a whole slew of vendors selling windows, patios, decks, sheds, gutter guards, water softeners, humidifiers, and more. Hell, we even saw the ShamWow demonstration again. What we couldn't find, however, was a single booth that had anything to do with garages. No overhead door companies, no shelving companies, no floor sealers, or cabinets. I was a little perturbed after walking through the whole show, not finding a single thing I was looking for.
We decided to skip that joint and take the skywalk to the Circle Center Mall. We perused the mall a bit, and stopped by Johnny Rockets for a burger and fries 50's style. My mind drifted on to thinking about how I miss the warm weather in Florida and the water and the fish. I guess I can blame this on Grandpa Lahrman, who had just sent me a couple envelopes in the mail with pictures from our vacation in Florida. I got to remembering my old aquarium I had back in the day, and kinda thought I'd like to get another aquarium going. They are so colorful and lively, and a great way to bring a little of Florida to my home. So, we decided we've had enough of downtown Indianapolis for one weekend, and headed south to Greenwood to visit a place called 'Uncle Bill's Pet Center'. I've been in there a few times before checking out big aquariums, and they seemed to have some pretty nice deals. We walked around the store a bit, scoping out the many varieties of aquariums. I came across a special they were having on a 75 gallon aquarium, with a lighted hood and cabinet stand for $399. It seemed to be quite a deal, and was about perfect size for my living room. We got everything loaded into the Subaru and headed home. Everything was pretty much preassembled, which was nice. Amber helped me stack the pieces together, and clean up the glass. I did some more online shopping at PetCo for a filtration system, aeration system, cleaning supplies, rock, and plants. PetCo was having a good sale as well, up to 40% off. The filtration system I chose was $229 at Bill's, but I snagged it up for $169 at PetCo. All the fixins for my 'paradise' shrine came to $370. Its a bet of a blow to the wallet, but this tank will not only look great, but it will damn near take care of itself. That is the biggest selling point for me, as my terrible memory and busy schedule is a sure formula for dead fish. So I won't have to tend to it much more than tossing in some food. I also wanted to make sure that everything was compatible with both fresh and salt water applications, in case I want to change things up down the road for some more exotic salt-water fish. Maybe some sheephead, snook, or mullet! Ha! Anyhow, it'll take a bit of time before its a standalone work of art. For now, we'll wait on our shipment from PetCo.
Until next time...
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