Frivolous At Heart

[ratings]
I made a video of me drilling into a dowel. I forgot what kind of wood it is but it’s some sort of hard oak. Reason I like this type of wood is because it’s very dense and hard. Had a reason to play with my drill press really. I fixed an existing Capstan with this drilled dowel. Works!

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Ryobi Model: DP102L : Drilling Video : Ryobi Drilling Video : Drill Press Video

Again, I was at Lowes and was looking into purchasing a brad nailer. Build bird houses and etc. I originally picked a Hitachi NT50AE2 to use for miscellaneous projects. This model shoots 2″ brad nails and I’m thinking to myself, “Do I really need something like such?”.

So I asked the associate that was helping me at the time for his recommendation(s). He asked me what I was using it for and if it was for everyday usage and I said just bird houses etc every now-n-then. He said, “The hell you buying this for??! This model shoots 2″ brad nails and it’s way too expensive for making bird houses for your type of use”. He gave it to me straight. Made sense because the Hitachi model costs 80USD while the Black*Decker costs 20USD less. If I were to use it for everyday use, he would recommend the Hitachi for longevity and quality but since I’m not using it everyday, I’ll buy the cheapo one. Basically he saved me a lot of money and so I drove on home all happy and thinking about how proud I am that I saved so much mula!

Can’t knock on BLACK&DECKER now… They aren’t that bad. I know because I had owned a drill made by them before. It was an 18V drill that lasted for a good 4 years until the battery went bad. I could have purchased a new battery but that would have been almost half the price of a new one. Figured 4 years of reliable use- errh, I deserve a new drill. At that time, I had the first Firestorm 18V drills BLACK&DECKER came out with. On a side note, they do make Dewalts, you know,… the drills we all want but can’t afford? I personally don’t care for Dewalts. I’m very satisfied with my Ryobi. Hell almost everything I have is made by Ryobi.

EDIT: 12/23/07
I like this better than my Porter Cable brad nailer. My brother gave me it and it works good, packs a nice punch- literally! I ear drums are in pain! The Black&Decker is smooth and accurate; very nice to my ear drums and has not failed me. Though the associate said to purchase this liberal usage; I have used this everyday and I love it more than my Porter Cable. Light and fits my fancy!

What? I was in-line paying for a clamp that seems to be pretty good quality. So curious as to know where it’s made, I started to play with it and see if there is any verbage that will relate it to the maker. Sure enough, it said, “MADE IN GERMANY”. Is that at all possible? So I asked one of the associates just to poke fun, “Why is this from German and not China? I thought all this SH*T was from China?”. He laughed-we laughed, it was amusing! It’s pretty well made mind you! For something that cost 5USD, it isn’t cheap and flimsy like the ones you get from China.

First thing in the morning at a stop and I saw this:

Never know what kind of intuitive ideas people will come up with these days! I’m not poking fun at the individual but they sure as hell made my driving pleasure a little tolerable and amusing. Didn’t know so much crap could fit in a small John boat. Awesome!

You know how when you are at a four way crossing and if you see a someone crossing the street, you kindly wave or give them the nod as to say “go ahead, you may pass” gesture. I know down-town life isn’t the safest but this is the first incident it has ever happened to me. I had my two nephews and niece with me and thank god I always lock the door when I’m in the car. Anywho, I gave her the nod to let her cross but she mistaken my kind gesture and interpreted it as a “come ‘hither”. So she came to the passenger door and tried to open it and I was freak’n out!

Man, she must do this on a regular bases. I don’t have money for pussy let alone pay for it. Shitttt. I don’t know what the hell she was thinking but I’m not up for coodies. So as soon as she noticed she couldn’t open the door, she looked at me funny and I was saying “NO, NO”. She had a beer in her paper bag I think and so she nodded at me and walked away. That was scary! Should I wipe my door handle down? (LOL)

I have no idea why Honda has their oil filters on the side of the engine towards the firewall. It makes for uneasy access of it and it required you to crawl deep underneath the engine to reach it. The Pilot has it on the side near the bottom on the driver side which isn’t so bad but dammit, the spark plug removal and install was a pain in my butt. Why O why are spark plugs so such a pain to install? That’s with every car now-a-days: Acura, Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi etc. etc..

I had to put in new plugs, oil change, transmission flush and miscellaneous things here and there. The timing belt shall be next- ehrr does it even have one? Maybe a timing chain? I doubt the Pilot has a timing chain. Women just like to drive and not have to worry about anything. No background history is needed. Gas & drive is all they do. Oil changes? Tire rotations? Got to remind them to do stuff like that. Careless they are.

Another gripe I have is directed towards Fram, the leading oil-filter producer?! What the heck is up with the black textured paint painted on the bottom of the filter? I know it’s for gripping but it’s stupid in design. It is useful for oily and clammy hands to grasp at but the paint flakes off after 3 months of usage and when you go and grab a hold of it, you get paint chips on your hands and in your eyes- up your nose. It’s dangerous! One flake in your eye and it could be a lawsuit. If they were to make a textured bottom for grip, why not ceramic coat it. Wait, that will only increase the price- scrap that idea! I don’t even see why they need any grips- that is why we have oil-filter removers and or tighteners for!

Today was so tiresome. I wanted to go to sleep. My friend and I were making good progress today! We Have finally placed the engine + transmission into the engine bay today. I always end up saving the day. I’m cool like that! The engine looks huge for such a small engine bay! Very little in-between space from timing-belt to the side of the driver fender. Everything is a tight and “snug” fit. Wiring is ’bout to come. I’m sure we’ll have fun with that!

Saw this on the road this morning:

The tractor was pulling the truck out of a sandy situation. The truck was hauling pipes and miscellaneous hardware on a 20ft trailer. The trailer alone could have been the factor that dug the truck into the sand. Boy, I can’t wait till all the construction is done. I need more than 2 lanes of driving pleasure!

Finally, the engine + transmission are both going in at the same time. We hoisted the whole front end up with the crane (it worked faster than a jack) so that the engine + transmission will clear. Once we have it cleared, we then pushed it underneath the car and lowered the chassy on top of it. Then support the chassy and hoist the engine + transmission up while aligning it properly.

The engine mounts were all billet aluminum- NICE and shiny! The rear mount had to go on first. Don’t tighten it down because you need “wiggle” room to move and align the mounts together so they can fit.

The passenger tranny mount gave us some trouble because we needed to cut away some metal to allow the mount to fit. We took a grinder to it and that did the trick though I admit, there were too many sparks flying everywhere so I let my buddy Hieu do all the “meticulous work”.

Really a Honda Prelude Clutch Job that is going into a Civic Hatch. Jap spec H22A motor and tranny. We had the motor hanging from the crane and the transmission removed. Inside was the old clutch which didn’t seem to be worn at all. Out with the shitty and in with the kick-ass clutch and billet Fidanza flywheel. All new cool shiny parts! I Don’t know what brand clutch but it was dressed in blue:)

I forgot to mention but prior to all of this happening,.. my buddy has an aptitude to want to paint every damn thing. So while I was working on the car, he was out back cleaning the transmission and doing all the prep work for a coat of paint, I was in for a surprise! I don’t know why he choose a 5 gallon bucket as a painting bench but the transmission fell down and kissed his pretty toes. It hurt he said but I was too busy laughing my butt off to be paying any attention. Thank goodness it didn’t fall in an angle to severe a toe or three. Likewise, it was funny none-the-less.