The Manic Mechanic

Pee Wee gets an iPad! AAAAAAAHH! heh heh heh

Pee-wee Gets An iPad! from Pee-wee Herman

A couple weeks ago I bought a new 'shop vacuum' for the garage (of mayhem). While I already have a big, ancient Genie wet/dry vac, the thing is showing it's nearly 20 years of age, and new filters are nearly impossible to come by. I made an adaptor of sorts to fit a newer cartridge-style filter used in later models, but they have an annoying habit of falling off the motor assembly unknown to me, until I notice the vac spewing dust everywhere. While at Costco buy'n large, I noticed they had the Bissell GaragePro vac on sale at almost half the list price.



This vac is da shit. At a full 12 amps, this thing sucks more than being Republican. It also comes with a huge selection of tools geared towards detailing car interiors as well as general wet/dry garage and shop use. And a 32 foot hose. I gave the big truck and the Strat a much-needed interior cleaning, finally able to get the bleached dead carcasses of bees and bugs that have been wedged for years inside the back glass of that car. It made easy work of Kodi's dog hair that permeated the interiors. Another cool thing is the filter can double as a nifty hat, shown here being modeled by Jeff. It mounts to a wall with a substantial bracket but can be used standalone as well. The hose length covers both bays of the garage with no problems, and the vac runs super quiet. Highly recommended.

The above post also brings with it a question - given the myriad stuff I use and acquire is there any interest in my making little write-ups such as this? I can tell of the neato tools, gear and gadgets out there that might interest people, and what I discover to be not worth considering. I can give some how-tos for some easy stuff that can be done around the house with common tools, you name it. I got all this space, and really do wish I can do more with it. Since I am looking at some potential extended recovery time where I'm stuck unable to do much more than sit at the console and pounding the keys, maybe this would help pass the time. It might keep me a bit more sane during that time as well.

First off, I have to thank everyone who left notes of concern and encouragement in my last post. The past several days, leading up to and after the anniversary have been rough, no doubt about it. I lost my 'true' family in one fell swoop, and it's devastating. I've been trying to learn that 'family' can go beyond blood relatives. I have Jeff's extended family, most of whom welcome me as one of their own. I have a few close friends throughout the years as well. And I have my Livejournal friends. Many of you I have never met in person (though I want to, believe me). So many of you brighten my day via your posts in so many ways. To have you guys and gals send some kind words truly means a lot. I don't feel so alone.

Trying to fend off depressive feelings and be useful has been the order of the day for a while now. My upcoming vacation with Jeff to Provincetown next week has been a huge motivation. On Thursday I came home to find that the windshield fairies paid a visit to the house while I was at work and replaced busted windshields in the truck and the Mini. Granted, I have no idea of the glass installers' orientation, so maybe calling them fairies is a bit presumptive. The insurance company made it easy for me to have the glass replaced under the comprehensive policy, a few phone calls with some unusually pleasant and helpful people from the insurer as well as the installers made what could have been a bit of an ordeal a nice surprise, especially given my background mindset and preoccupations. I came home from work to find two shiny new windscreens. The MINI's glass was sandblasted badly, despite it's relatively young age. A hard hit finally started a crack, and it wasted no time creeping across the glass. The truck's glass had been busted (from top to bottom, and in several isolated places) for a while, and I figured I'd be better off replacing it before the trip to stave off any potential eager constabulary from writing me up an inspection/safety tickie. No, I dont want to have anything spoiling the trip.

More work on the truck involved installing a three gauge pod on the dash, fixing burned out and darkened bulbs in the instrument cluster, replacing the onboard charger, cleaning things up, and installing the Star Trek horns. The latter does make people stop and look around. To make the trip a bit more comfortable I replaced my old Activator II time-based trailer brake controller with a Tekonsha P3 proportional controller. No more feeling kicked in the ass every time I let off the brakes with a trailer attached. Should be a lot safer as well. For something as mundane as a brake controller, the thing comes with a GUI. Unreal.

Since P-Town is best navigated on foot or by bicycle, I pulled out our two bikes and gave them a much needed tuneup. Mine was having perpetually flat tires; the last trip to pick up inner tubes netted me ones with Presta valves rather than Shraders. Since I have no adaptors to make use of those, I needed to get the proper tubes. While assessing what needed to be done, I inflated what was already on the bike. Filled the back tire, everything looked good, only need a tube, no tire. The front was next. Tire flopping on the rim. Air it up for inspection, all's well. Get set to check it out and I am greeted with "fffffPOW!!" as the tire slips off the rim and the tube explodes from the tire. I drop what I am doing, head to the bike shop at Dick's and get three new tubes (one spare), two bells and a light set for Jeff's ride. Come home, clean up everything, replace the tubes, tune up and lubricate everything then hit the street for test rides. The good news is I can still hit about 30mph. The bad news is that it ain't for long, unlike my younger days. Ah, well, it's not like I'll be racing in Provincetown. Two shiny bikes for the week. As I put them away, I noticed a bulge beginning to show up on the front tire of Jeff's bike. I guess that will have to be taken care of too. fffffPOW!!

Been making use of the new laptop. I set it up along with the scanner in the trailer this afternoon just to be different and began scanning the few dozen photos that Jeff's mom gave me to digitize to load into the digital photo frame we got her for Mother's Day. I plan on getting a similar frame for myself to show the countless photos of Mom that I have.

My only worry regarding the trip is the tires on the trailer. I made the 'mistake' of googling the brand ("Mission") after noticing they are made in China. I did not find anything encouraging. Even though I had no issues with the tires, all I have read are horror stories of blowouts on tires that have little use. Then comes recent news of a big tire recall involving several off-brand tires made in China (though not these, different village sweatshop manufacturer). Apparently, safety testing, quality control and integrity are lost on some people. This is what the cost of 'low prices always' brings us, along with governments being lobbied into allowing the various industries to regulate themselves. Le sigh.

If you made it this far, you probably missed the teal deer.

Look for an upcoming post regarding a LJ 'get-together' at P-Town. Details to follow, but it's looking like a Tuesday lunch bash at our place. Would love to see yas!