A Much Belated Review

Dear Significant People,

After months and months of agonizing and few brief nail biting episodes, my car’s engine is finally done. In September I finished my engine install and with help from a fellow car nut, we miraculously managed to start it up despite its 10 year sabbatical. The first few times we ran the car, fire would sporadically shoot out the side mounted Weber carburetors. (Observe the photo with fire)

At this point the only think left that I could think of was to take the car down to Auburn’s one and only Blood Enterprises (a highly respected tune shop) for the final touches and tuning. We trailered the car down on a beautiful fall morning before work. As usual with all car projects my Dad and I were in for a shock. What happened over the next month should have been mentioned by Vizzini in the Princess Bride as one of the classic blunders.

For the first three weeks, the shop discovered one hindering problem after another. But one by one they eliminated each snag until they were finally ready to do what they do best, which is tune carburetors on their slick dynamometer (a machine that measures all things pertinent to an engine’s functionality).

The engine tuning was a huge success with 110hp measured at the rear wheels, a seemingly small number but remember that the car only weights about 10 pounds heaver than a go-cart. The net result is a highly responsive and eager to please machine. O=()()=O = Smiles

Much Love

The New York Introspection… Am I Crazy?

New York City is amazing! There is really nothing in the US that can compare to it. Even the two other largest cities in the US (Chicago and Las Angeles) are very different. NYC seams to emit a chronic energy that every inhabitant absorbs whether they want it or not. Every waking moment the city has its IV pumping you with a unique concoction of speed, fear, and unlimited adrenaline. Except for the few dog owners and yoga instructors, recuperation has almost completely been outscored to the west coast where the words 9 to 5 still hold meaning.

Over the past two years I have had the opportunity to visit the city on a few occasions. I think I keep returning for similar reasons that adrenalin junkies repeat the same stunt again and again. What can I say; I’m a sucker for the pace. On my last trip out, I decided that the only way I would be able to maintain my high was by multiplying the degree of madness, so, I brought my fixed gear bicycle.

I’ll spare you the details on how amazing riding a fixed gear bike in NYC is but I must say, I haven’t had that much fun on a bike since I was 13 years old when I would repeatedly jump my old banana seat schwinn into the neighbors yard. On my first ride threw the city I instinctively gripped my handlebars so hard that my knuckles turned white. Thankfully as I persisted in it, I became accustomed to the buses, dump trucks and cabs and eventually I was blending into the madness like a minnow swimming in a school of herring.

Does this make me crazy? I didn’t think so but I wish you could see the expressions of all the people I told, their face seamed to freeze into one of those frowning stares that children have nightmares about. One of those faces that kids think will somehow get stuck and never return back to normal.

Yeah it was a fun trip, a really run trip, even when I wasn’t biking all over. I was able to see the Mariners beat out the Yankees, watch a Broadway musical about little children who try out for spelling B competitions (something I was never good at I might add), and even watch The Baxter with Suvi (who miraculously stayed awake threw the whole thing even though it was really late and she had classes the next morning).

Enjoy the big apple

The 02 Project Update

So the story actually begins in December when I was driving home from school in Rexburg Idaho. My little 2002 was plugging along great until we entered that offal stretch of interstate between Twin Falls and Boise AKA "The Dead Zone". We were rushing home because a winter storm was quickly making its way west threw Oregon's blue mountains. I was worried that the DOT would close down the freeway over the pass, as they often do during winter months so every time we needed fuel, we would bolt out the car like a NASCAR crew franticly pumping the gas and cleaning the windows. Any other physical or emotional needs would simply have to wait until we crossed the pass. As usual, the incident happened faster that I could react. First the engine began to loose power, and before I know it I was guiding the poor car off to the side of the semi truck congested road. The engine had ran clear out of oil and it was 100% my fault. As you might imagine, feelings of anger, fear, and frustration filled my sole.

Snapshot the June

For months after the incident I had planned on selling the car for parts and buying a newer one once I had saved up enough. Then one day as I was perusing threw Craigslist, I came across an engine up in British Columbia. Out of curiosity I called the owner and was able to get some more info on the machine. The engine had been rebuilt 10,000 ago and them was stored for the next 10 years in a garage. After having a mechanic give me the green light, I made my offer.




Snapshot to August

As a wise man once said, "every time you fix your car, it will take you twice as long and cost twice as much as you had originally planned."

Sadly this has been the case for me. Fortunately I have been able to keep my sanity by periodically escaping for a game of soccer, traveling to New York, or playing a round of Settlers of Catan. Over the last two months, I have spend many hours into the wee night laying under the car with my hands black and gritty. Surprisingly my most productive hours working on the car have been around 10:00pm to midnight. The few attempts I've made at working on the car past midnight have failed miserably as I wake up hours later still under the car. The good news is that I can honestly say that I am really close to having everything done. The new engine is in installed with 90% of its attachments now connected.