11/13/06

I had nothing to say Thursday or Friday. Well, actually I was running around all day both days and didn’t make time to come talk to y’all. We went to the shop Wednesday evening. John did stuff to his 510 while I did stuff to… um, I don’t remember what I did, actually. Oh yeah I do, I installed a limiting strap so the side door would stop hitting the mirror when opened. I don’t think I did anything else though. Saturday, John Roper and John Ullom were at the shop when I arrived. They worked on stuff while I began the removal of old stereo stuff from Mr. Wiggly. Pat was there as well and the three of them started talking mega jibba-jabba giga flippy-floppy computer crap. That was when I walked around back and started in on Mr. Wiggly because I couldn’t stand there and listen to all the dorkugese being thrown about. After a while, we all went to lunch and then the two Johns and I went back to the shop. When they left I went to Wal-Mart and bought a stereo and four speakers. They have a kit with all of that in one box for $95.00 whereas my alternative was just a head unit from the BoP for $59.00 without speakers. I have a pair of speakers in metal boxes that sound pretty good that I had planned to use but John R. convinced me otherwise. I almost called him back as I was driving through the parking lot to say that the savings at Wal-Mart are not worth having to deal with Wal-Mart customers! I fought through it though and got the kit. I took it back to the shop and started to examine it. I made a mount for the head unit and painted it. It looks like crap. I took apart the speaker boxes that have been in the back of George for the last decade or so and gave the 6x9 speakers a test fit. They don’t. Well, they do, but the mounting holes for the speakers fall on free air because I had to modify the boxes for the speakers that were in there. I set all that aside for the time being. I decided I'd had enough for the day and went home. Sunday I went back to the shop with big plans to get that stereo installed. I hopped in Mr. Wiggly and started to pull him around the building. He ran out of gas. I walked back to the shop and grabbed a gas can then went to the gas station. I filled the can and Matilda then had a car wash. Back at the shop I poured in the gallon of gas and tried to start the van again. No luck. I could see the fuel filter and it was dry. I decided that the original filter under the van was probably clogged so I decided to get rid of it. I grabbed some pliers, safety glasses, and sections of hose then crawled under the van. I removed the filter, fully expecting a face full of gas to pour out. It didn’t. Hmmm. Interesting. I tried one section of hose but it was too small. I tried another but it was too big. I went in search of a section of hose the right diameter. I finally found some and tried to install it. No such luck. I went back to the shop again and put some grease on the hose ends. Now I slipped on nicely. I was a bit concerned about the two globs of grease that I just introduced into the fuel system, but moved on. I got in and cranked the engine. Nothing, the filter was rather stubbornly staying dry. I decided that perhaps one gallon wasn’t enough gas to cover the pickup at the angle I was parked so I rolled back to another position. Now the filter began to fill. Well, I say “fill” it was more like I could see fuel flowing through it. I took off straight to the gas station. The filter never did fill up like I wanted it to and that worried me the whole way. It made it and I put 19.05 gallons in to the tune of $40.00. I went inside and bought a little note pad, a Sharpie, two Slim Jims, and a 12 pack of Pepsi. I entered the mileage and amount of fuel in the note pad and then ate the Slim Jims on the way back to the shop. It was then that Allied Command alerted me to the fact that a bombing raid on the porcelain works in Dresden was needed. I flew that mission and then got to work on the stereo. Oh yeah, on the way in I bought an antenna since Mr. Wiggly had none. I'm now in a quandary. I have just passed the page break where I usually sign off. Do I quit for the day and tell y'all about the installation tomorrow or do I keep going since I shortchanged y'all last week? It is also still very early, 1010 h, so I could waste a few more hours talking to you. Oh what a dilemma! I think I'm going to opt for telling the rest of the story… tomorrow. Have a day.