BowerBlog

Hi All!
It’s a cold Monday evening and I’m relaxing over at T’s after going to Lowe’s and WalMart for him. This was quite a day at work; I damn near walked out. The lot has this Mercury Mountaineer over at the shop; it’s been there for several months. It has the typical 4.0 liter E motor timing chain noise. It’ll need chains and guides on at least the front of the engine and I’d be willing to bet the rear chains and guides are bad too. Well, the service manager has kinda been putting this off because it’s such a big job. All at once this morning, they decide they need this thing fixed right away. What’s their idea of fixing it? Change the oil and load it up with oil additives. Fer Christ’s sake, who in their right mind would think that’s going to help broken chain guides and worn chains??? I’m so sick of being second-guessed at this job that I’m about ready to give up trying completely. I guess I’ll just start asking what they want done rather than actually diagnosing any problems.

I never thought I’d hear myself say this about my job, but now I’m just there to put my time in and that’s about it. I’m not the only one there that feels that way either. Oh well, I guess I’ll just keep blogging and keep my eye out for a new employer.

I’m not really in a bad mood, just kind of fed up I suppose. T is fixing dinner, so I’d better wrap this post up. I’ll write again tomorrow.

As Always,
Chris

Hi All!

I hope everyone had a good weekend. It’s Sunday evening again and even with the workweek looming in front of me, I have to say it’s been a pretty good weekend. I just got back from Applebee’s and a great steak dinner (the kind that practically forces you to take a nap afterwards) to celebrate the birthday of a freind’s grandaughter. If you get the urge for a really good steak and the idea of dragging out the grill is not exactly blowing your skirt up, try Applebee’s New York steak. I highly recommend it….(burp)…..’scuse me

Anyways…..Saturday morning I decided to check out the new Farmer’s Market they’re having downtown. During the three years I lived in Roanoke, VA, one of my favorite weekend activities was their local Farmer’s Market. I figured it would be worth a shot to see how Fremont was handling the idea.

I was very surprised. I didn’t expect too much in the way of size since this has just started, but the qualitly and atmosphere was great! They definently have the right idea. I took a few pics and thought I’d share them.

This is a look down Front Street at the market area from Chrogan Street.

My friend Curt convienently stolled into the frame as I ran into him and few other people I know.

Folks perusing some of the local produce and goodies offers. Although the mix of vendors was nice, I would have liked to have seen some more local growers offering produce and such.

Some folks just couldn’t help themselves and felt compelled to walk down the sidewalk rather than in the street where the vendors were facing. I guess all those years of being told to stay the hell out of the street are hard to overcome

There was a lot of activity around DaVinci’s Coffee House and the Finishing Touch Gallery. As it should be, this Farmer’s Market is successfully involving the brick and morter businesses on Front Street.

Just a sample of some of the vendors and performers that were there Saturday.

A shot from near the back of the market area towards State Street.

I personally think this a great idea. It not only offers a chance for the basic idea of getting really fresh locally grown produce, one can see what great talents lie hidden in some of the Fremont area’s population. Performers, musicians, wood carvers, all kinds of arts and crafts! I really hope this starts drawing a larger crowd and more vendors on the weekends. Best of all, it’s just plain fun!

Well, it’s getting on to 9pm. I should turn the TV back on, they’re announcing who won the Food Network Challange tonight. Yea, yea, I know, I normally HATE reality shows (because they’re anything but real), but a buddy of mine got me interested in this one and I just gotta know who wins. Crap….they got me hooked too, didn’t they?

I’m finally releasing that God-awful Explorer 4.0 OHC engine I’ve been working on tomorrow. A second oil change, put the hood and front splash pan on and it’s road ready. I fired it up last Friday and much to my amazement, it runs great. In case you’re not a mechanic by trade, the Ford Explorer is available with a 4.0L OHC engine (VIN code E) that has the most Rube Goldberg-ish timing chain setup you’ve ever seen. It’s a friggin’ nightmare and cannot be set up without some expensive factory tools. Of course, this engine is prone to eating chain guides like a starved Beagle going after a thick steak. I finally got the factory tools and this is the first one I’ve done. I have another couple waiting in the lot to do and I will devote a long blog post to this repair with lots of pictures. Whatever sub-human sadistic Detroit engineer thought this timing chain arrangement would be a good idea should be sentenced to hand push everyone of these vehicles that drop the chains and destroy their valve trains!
(Ok, that was a little harsh, but wait ’till you see this goofy engine design.)

I hope eveyone has a nice week and an even better weekend. I’ll be in Michigan all next weekend, so I’ll have a post and a pic or two the following Monday or Tuesday from the trip. I might even squeeze in anothe couple of quick posts this week.
In the meantime, take care.

As Always,
Chris

Howdy all!
It’s about 11pm and I’m at home making lemon bars for a GLFRA meeting in Michigan tomorrow. We’re having the meeting at Potter Park in Lansing, MI, which also contains a zoo, so it ought to be a lot of fun. Of course, I’ll be bringing my cameras and will be posting pics of the event to my blog later on in the week as I have time.

Also, you might have noticed that the old calendar is gone in the right side of my blog. I’ve replaced it with a really cool flash badge that shows my 30boxes calendar and my Twitter posts. All in real time, I might add. I’ve noticed that sometimes it’s a little slow in reflecting updates, but it works quite fast most of the time.

Well, I have another batch of lemon bars ready to come out of the oven, so I’d best get going. One more batch and I’m done for the night. Everyone take care and have a great weekend!

As Always,
Chris

Happy Memorial Day Weekend All!

Well, it’s finally here, the first official holiday of the summer. I took Friday off work to make it a four day weekend. Unfortunately, so far, it’s not been exactly what I had planned on for a fun holiday. First off, my AC quit working because of a bad condenser fan motor. Knowing the landlord, I doubt this will get fixed. Second, the plans I had for the weekend completely fell through, so I really have nothing to do…at least anything I want to do. Third, most everyone I know has taken off someplace else for the holiday, so I’m pretty much left alone here with the rats and the rabbits. About the only good things that have happened are that I had a GREAT Orange Creme shake from a local burger joint and that my Aloe Vera plant is doing so well that I had to repot it. I was bored, so I took a pic of it after I repotted it:

Anyways, I think I’ll finish watching the Tudors on Showtime and then maybe a movie or two while I fall asleep. I was so looking forward to this weekend and now I think I’d rather be at work considering how things are going. I hope ya’ll are having a better holiday weekend than I.

As Always,
Chris

P. S. I did get my Amateur Extra ticket in the mail from the FCC today! Woo-Hoo, I feel so official