the airport

its hard to deal with saying goodbye.
i can usually hold it together..
..until i see her disappear.

earlier that morning..

wash

The Jeep was still dirty from NWFest2010.
It felt good to wash it up real nice.
I like scrubbing it with the brush.





Last week the ambient temperatures were getting quite hot.
I think it was above 25* Celsius for a week straight!
I could smell a mixture of power steering fluid and singed dirt.
Rae said it smelled like pancake batter when we drove around.
HA-HA, so, I made sure to clean the engine bay as well.
It is safe to power wash as long as you don't use soap.
(and avoid the distributor)




I am always impressed with how good my Jeep looks washed!
Even with the dents and dings, it cleans up nice.

helicopter

my beloved Jeep

I am happy to report no damage from NWF2010.
My Jeep Cherokee performed flawlessly!

At one point, however, my exhaust must have got hung up.
I noticed it looking a bit crooked back at camp.


I simply rotated the exhaust back into position and tightened the clamps.

spring cleaning

Look at all of this stuff I got rid of!
I recycled, donated, and threw away.

Two Tall Stacks of Stuff.
A Bunch of Bags of Stuff.

art in a box

indoor painting

Rarely, I paint something on my workbench.
In this case, a box I was mailing to my mom.
I open the window and set up a fan to paint.




()

to be the musician

imagine if you could be the musician playing with this!



electricity out your fingertips!

melted crayons = guitar picks

I Wish I could have melted these.
They would have become crayon picks.

pro-email

Routine really changes the way we see things.
Oddities become boring.

When I first moved to Canada, everything was fresh!
It was quite exciting - it was a different world.

It was bizarre to me that everything had 2 labels.
One in French, on in English.
You see, Canada has two official languages.
Prepackaged products must be labeled in both official languages.

________________________________

Today, the French labels don't strike my curiosity at all.
The most consideration I give them is annoyance when I can't read them.
This happens often as merchendice is stocked on shelves.
The English label is on one side of a bag of chips, the French on the other.
(I know its a bag of chips, but what kind of cheese is on these chips?)

Anyways...
I bought some new toothpaste.
Apparently, it will improve my email proficiencies.


________________________________



Theres more to this than a silly email joke.
I'm going to try to view the world with renewed appreciation.
The point is that your life is what you make of it.
Its all in how you see things.

hockey

I hope Scott takes me to play hockey one day.
I got this stick from a bum in Chicago.
My name is now carved into it.
I'm ready to skate.

I think its a required experience in Canada.
So why haven't I hit the ice yet up here?
I used to ice skate in Wyoming.
On our own pond.

3 guitar amp options

i Wish i could play them all at one sitting to pick one!
it's gonna be hard without hearing them side by side.

1.) rockerverb 50 2x12


2.) vox AC 30 custom


3.) fender supersonic 60

workbench update - 1

The day after I built my workbench, I added to it.
I guess you could say I finished it.
I put a rail on the back edge of the bench top.

This rail helps to keep stuff from hitting the window!
It works great!

_________________________________
_________________________________

THE WORKBENCH WINDOW SAFETY RAIL BUILD:
_________________________________
_________________________________

I used a 2x4x8 I had lying around.
It was a bit long so I cut it down.


I also notched the rail to fit the rear bench mount and spacer.
Here I am using my workbench to build my workbench.


The bench mount is the vertical 1x4 in the corner.
It keeps the workbench off the wall and secures it to the wall.



The rail allows me to push tools or projects up and out of the way.
Thus making space for more tools or more projects.
Without pushing something through the window!


As a side note:
I created a wire loop and routed my extension cord here.
Conveniently located right under the workbench, its always ready.
The wire loop also keeps the slack up and out of the way.

fix compy

Here are a few of the sites I found useful when fixing my computer.

http://firingsquad.com/hardware/evga_e-geforce_6800/

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315311

http://www.computing.net/answers/windows-xp/system-wont-boot-safe-mode-hang-isapnpsys/183463.html

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/xprepair/thread/1bb2ac51-8b5c-4058-b835-408524ace776

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxprepair1_8.htm

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/operatingsystems/ss/instxprepair2.htm

how 2 control with only keyboard

how to regain permissions

mcaffe virus protection

A while back I was having computer trouble.

VIRUSES.

Since, I have recovered my harddrive and reinstalled the operating system.

To keep myself safe from future VIRAL attacks, I reactivated my mcaffee account.

It had been a while, eh!?

1776

1776.
America's independence.
Andy's coupon code.

I need to get my spare tire out of my cargo area!
It takes up too much space.

I have been looking at two tire carriers in particular:
The Detours USA Tailbone and the JCR Stage 3.

I got my hands on a $50 off coupon on the Detours Tailbone.
...but.. ..it isn't as good as the JCR Stage 3.
The Tailbone relies on the stock bumper skin for mounting.

Here are a few pictures of the tailbone.



As you can see, it is a small swing arm that mounts to the stock bumper.
It is more like a band-aid.

However, it is half as much as the JCR Stage 3.
..and I have a $50 dollar discount for it..
..so even though it isn't as good, I was going to go with the Tailbone.
RELUCTANTLY.

Then, America the beautiful inspired a wonderful sale!
JCR Offroad is having an independence day sale!

So, my decision for a rear tire carrier just got a lot easier.
ENTER 1776 at checkout and receive a 17.76% discount!
Thats an awesome deal - it pays for free shipping and then some!

Here are some photos of the Stage 3 from JCR's website:
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It is better than the Detours Tailbone for several reasons.
It has a nice flat strong surface for hi-lift jack placement.
(the Tailbone relies on the flimsy stock Jeep bumper)
It also has an integrated receiver hitch.
(the Tailbone doesn't have a hitch)

A receiver hitch is important for towing trailers.
I have an aftermarket one which hangs low under my bumper.
I get hung up on it when I try to go up steep obstacles.

In the picture below, you can see my hitch.

I have a silver D-Ring Shackle in it below the bumper.
Image the extra clearance if that hitch was IN the bumper!

It also interferes with my fuel tank skid plate.
So, I can't install my fuel tank skid because of my current hitch.

With the Stage 3, I will have no need for my current hitch!
I will be able to install my fuel tank skid!
And the JCR Stage 3 will raise my camp table a few inches higher.

Everything will be perfect!
God Bless America!