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Car heaven
Apr. 25th, 2009 10:56 pmI am back from my biennial pilgrimage to all that is automotive and related (and sometimes not related) held in Carlisle, PA. I mostly picked up some tools, fixtures and testers, electrical goodies, a dual output Battery Tender, and unexpected needs and too-good-to-pass-up buys like a required Square D 70amp circuit breaker to be used for the workshop power upgrade and a vertical power distribution unit meant for use in a dense server cabinet. Yeah, not all car related, but just what I actually am in need of. I am replacing the sub-panel branch of 40amps I installed umpteen years ago to 70amps. I needed the breaker and some 2 gauge power cable to finish the upgrade. The breaker was lees than half price, now I just need to get about 65 feet of cabling to put that project to rest. The rack PDU I will use to replace a haphazard pile of outlet strips in the Lab of Mayhem.
The day was the hottest so far of the year, and weather was awesomeness. The heady smell of pre- emissions control exhaust and gasoline fumes was everywhere, the occasional rump-rump-varoom of a hotly-tuned V8 splitting the air and the scents of fairgrounds food made me very happy. If a manic mechanic were to name a favorite place in his world, this is in the top 5. I live for this stuff.
The day started off with me being stopped by a county policeman before sunrise for doing 72 in a 55 zone, flying around a tanker truck before the road went from a divided highway back into two-way traffic, and crossing into the oncoming traffic lane (in an intersection controlled by a traffic light at that) when said trucker cut me off. Lots of red and blue colored lights greeted me for that. I immediately stopped, engaged full politeness mode and awaited my fate.
I got a warning. w00t!
After the day's excursion to Automotive Mecca and dropping off my friend, picking up some cabinets at a co-worker's house and coming home, I discovered a three-foot-deep sinkhole half in the flower bed and half in the driveway as I got out of the truck. Nice. I had been dealing with a recurring minor sinkhole not more than three feet from this new one in the driveway for years. There used to be a hand-dug well on the property before I had bought the land and built my house on it. As luck would have it, this ended up being where the driveway was to be. I have another one in the yard itself caused by a perc test site settling. Luckily I have a couple mounds of topsoil and fill dirt left over from when the paved road was put in for the development. I guess I will be bashing up some asphalt and filling/tamping the hole tomorrow before something bad happens.
I like doing what I do, it makes me happy. I wish I could do it all the time.
The day was the hottest so far of the year, and weather was awesomeness. The heady smell of pre- emissions control exhaust and gasoline fumes was everywhere, the occasional rump-rump-varoom of a hotly-tuned V8 splitting the air and the scents of fairgrounds food made me very happy. If a manic mechanic were to name a favorite place in his world, this is in the top 5. I live for this stuff.
The day started off with me being stopped by a county policeman before sunrise for doing 72 in a 55 zone, flying around a tanker truck before the road went from a divided highway back into two-way traffic, and crossing into the oncoming traffic lane (in an intersection controlled by a traffic light at that) when said trucker cut me off. Lots of red and blue colored lights greeted me for that. I immediately stopped, engaged full politeness mode and awaited my fate.
I got a warning. w00t!
After the day's excursion to Automotive Mecca and dropping off my friend, picking up some cabinets at a co-worker's house and coming home, I discovered a three-foot-deep sinkhole half in the flower bed and half in the driveway as I got out of the truck. Nice. I had been dealing with a recurring minor sinkhole not more than three feet from this new one in the driveway for years. There used to be a hand-dug well on the property before I had bought the land and built my house on it. As luck would have it, this ended up being where the driveway was to be. I have another one in the yard itself caused by a perc test site settling. Luckily I have a couple mounds of topsoil and fill dirt left over from when the paved road was put in for the development. I guess I will be bashing up some asphalt and filling/tamping the hole tomorrow before something bad happens.
I like doing what I do, it makes me happy. I wish I could do it all the time.
