7/11/06

I'm not going to go through all that I wrote yesterday, and cut out for insertion today, to check for continuity or anything. Deal with it. If something doesn’t make sense, look back to yesterday’s entry and if that doesn’t help e-mail me [ dimlight65@aol.com ]. Anyhoo, we’re now moving on to Sunday’s activities. Sunday morning I headed to the shop with the intention of doing a little work on Mr. Wiggly and waiting to hear from Gregg. I pulled the van in front of the door and had a look at the driver’s seat situation. I unbolted it and saw that there were holes further back so I tried it in there. Ah, much better! My legs were straighter and I was just far enough away from the wheel that it was more comfortable. I bolted it down and drove around the building. It was even easier to hit the sweet spot on the clutch now, that or I was getting used to it. I locked up the shop and headed for the gas station to fill it up. I pumped $46.50 into it and thought, “Surely it is full.” No, the gauge read half a tank! I'm not sure it will ever get filled! I started to take it back to the shop but decided to risk it all and took it to the Motorsport Ranch to show off. Ray was there and was tickled pink to see me driving Mr. Wiggly. He suggested that I drive him back to Beenbroke so he could take delivery of the Patty Wagon since he’s buying it. He asks what I had planned to do for the rest of the day as an afterthought. I told him I had planned to go back and get the Seven out since I hadn’t driven it in a few weeks. He said that would be even better. He suggested that I go back and hoon in the Seven and then come pick him up. He didn’t feel right leaving at 1230 but could justify a 1500 quit. I agreed and headed north. The whole time I was driving Mr. Wiggly I had a stupid grin on my face. I dig that van! I decided I'd pressed my luck enough for one day driving the un-licensed Mr. Wiggly and took him back to the shop rather than to the house to show off. I got the Seven out and changed shoes. I locked up and headed back to the Ranch. I decided to forego an FM5 hoon and went straight to the Ranch because of the ominous clouds on the horizon. Yeah, I should have gone ahead with the hoon now that I look back. I arrive and Ray locks up then hops in the passenger seat. We head north. I tell him, “If you have anything to say, say it before we get on 377!” He laughs and we zip up to speed. He giggles and keeps yelling how cool the Seven is. Along about the time we turn onto 1187 I start to think about the situation. It is one thing for me to risk my neck in a car I built, but it is somewhat irresponsible hooning with someone else in the car. I slowed it down a bit at that point. Another thing I noticed when we turned east, the heat from the louvers began to really flow in under the windscreens. Dang, it was hot! I may need to look into something there, but I'm not sure what. [ Ummm... Put the full windshield on??? - SM ] We get to the shop and Ray expresses how cool the Seven is. I agree and we park it. Marty Smith shows up and we all chat for a bit. Ray fires up the Patty Wagon to get the air going. (By the way, this is where I decided to quit yesterday and just send the story of Saturday.) After we all had a good look at George and stuff, we all headed out. Marty Smith went to Northern Tool and Supply while I followed Ray to his apartment. He hopped in Matilda and we began discussing dinner plans. It was decided that we’d go to Mimi’s for some good old-fashioned “meat an’ taters” American food. “At a French bistro?” I asked. We amended the plan and headed for the Black Eyed Pea instead. Ray counted the shifts as I rowed my way onto the freeway and said how cool it was to have a six-speed. We sat down and each ordered raspberry tea. “And keep it coming!” I said. The waitress brought us a pitcher, which I promptly drained. Ray got one glass out of it. Oops, sorry. I refilled him from the second pitcher when it arrived. I would have offered him more from the first but his glass was never empty enough. Anyhoo, he had a salad so I ordered some broccoli-cheese soup. She brought a bowl instead of a cup. I ate it all. Our entrees arrived and we began to eat them. About halfway through mine I began to get cold sweats from my bloat and distention. I was hydraulically locked from too much tea, soup, baked whitefish, and fried corn. I actually began to get dizzy from the discomfort. I'm dumb to overindulge like that but that tea was so good and really hit the spot. We finished and he got a call from someone needing him to return to the Motorsport Ranch. I said I'd drive him since there was no need to risk the CV joint in the Patty Wagon this late in the evening. I told him that if I did take him to the Ranch though, I'd be going home to get the Pimpmobile and driving it down there later! He laughed and said he understood that logic. I had driven everything else I own down there that day, I might as well! As we were getting in the Matilda he got another call saying he didn’t need to head down after all so we went to look at the house he’s building. It’s neat. I have trouble getting excited about houses, unless they are my own, so that’s all I can say about it. It’s neat. From there I took him back to his apartment and headed home. I stopped for gas and calculated my mileage. The first tank got about 28 miles per gallon. The second got about 25 miles per gallon. I'll keep tracking it as the car breaks in and let y’all know. I think I might have hooned a bit more on this tank than the first. That, or the tire pressure was too low that week with the “new” wheels. We’ll see. Well, I think I'm done here. Y'all have a day.