10/2/06

I'm going to start this rant with what may be the most random and off the wall thing I have ever said in a rant. Well, I guess technically I'm not going to start it with the random statement but these two, so now here it comes. I want to buy or build, then learn how to play, a Theremin. What is a Theremin you ask? It is the instrument that makes that “oooo-WEEEE-oooo” music in fifties science fiction films and The Beach Boys song “Good Vibrations.” Why? Well, I watched “The Day the Earth Stood Still” over the weekend and was listening to the musical score, played on a Theremin. Then this morning in the comic “Achewood” the alt-text mentioned playing something on a Theremin. I looked up Theremin on Wikipedia, or is it Wikipoedia? Anyhoo, I looked up the instrument and read a little about it. Apparently it is some sort of “heterodyne antenna array” that is hooked up to an audio synthesizer. Juan plays it by moving his hands near the two antennae to vary the pitch and volume of the output sound. You don’t even touch the thing! How cool is that? I looked for one on e-Bay. Three pages of auctions came up from the search word “Theremin!” I was surprised. I almost bid on one built into a classic “Star Wars” lunchbox. I think I want a room in my Victorian mansion in Boyd to be a Theremin room. Just a room lined with electronic gizmos and speakers with the Theremin antennae standing there in the middle. I had thought I wanted a pipe organ but I'd never take the time to learn how to play that, not to mention the price. It would be cool though. No, a Theremin room would be easier and cheaper. Ok, that’s enough of that, for now. On to Mr. Wiggly news! Friday evening, well afternoon to be more precise, I went to Blank’s and bought argon and welding rod. I stopped by Robert's shop to see if he had the alternator but it was in the trunk of his car, which wasn’t there. He was supposed to see John in the morning and would give it to him then. I went home. I don’t remember if mom and I went out to eat but I'm sure we did. I looked through my mail and actually opened my pay stub, for a change. Glad I did because it was a live check! I'm pretty sure it was Friday night I watched “TDtESS” and began my obsession with the Theremin. Saturday morning I went to the credit onion and deposited my check. Since it was, hopefully, a one-time thing I wasn’t too embarrassed by it. I called John to assess his ETA and found out he was waiting for Robert at Robert's shop to get my alternator. Thanks again for that by the way. I went to the BoP to buy some muffler pipe, hangers, and a couple chrome tips. I also bought the nut for the starter’s battery post. They came in three-packs so I bought a pair of matching bolts for the hangers at the same time. Genius! Anyhoo, I headed for the shop and was in the process of rounding up all of my bits when John arrived. We hung the alternator and discovered that there were two “field” lugs on the alternator. He called Robert to see if he remembered where the wire went. He said, “either one,” so we started to hook it up. I found another wire hanging in the vicinity of the alternator. We decided to go to the BoP and buy a Chitterlings Manuel (Chilton’s manual) for the van and have lunch. Ok, so we decided to have lunch and then I would go buy the Chitterlings Manuel. We went to Sweet Home Chicago and ate. John gat a call from the cable guy and had to bolt to go meet him. I went to the BoP and found the Chitterlings Manuel I needed. I thumbed through the open one, yeah there were actually two there, and found out that both wires should be hooked up to the alternator. I considered just leaving but thought I'd better buy one of the books. I almost did the jerk-assed thing and bought the unopened book but went ahead and bought the one I had already used. I headed back to the shop and hooked up the wires. I reconnected the battery and looked for smoke. No shorts so I gave the starter a try. It spun over and filled the fuel filter. When it gave the first hint of trying to start I blipped the throttle to squirt some extra fuel and “Vroom!” he fired right up. Oh, did I mention I just wanted to hear it with the open headers? Well, I did and it sounded awesome! I called John so he could hear it. Marty Smith stopped by and I fired it up again for him. Gregg called at some point so I fired it up for him. Each time it started with no protest. I was quite pleased. It even settled into a decent idle at around 500 to 600 RPM. Now the bad news, the alternator is over charging. Anything above 700 RPM and it spikes to 16 volts. I decided I'd worry about that later and got started on the zorst build. Ok, I think I've said enough for today so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for that. Have a day. “Ooooo-WEEEE-oooo!”