12/14/10

Speaking of “Coupling,” someone said to me the other day that it was the basis for the show “Friends.” I said, “That was a neat trick. Basing an American sitcom on a British show six years before the British show even airs.” OK, I didn't really say that, but I wish I had. [ Anglophiles are not known to let logic get in the way of a good point... - SM ] Why didn't I? Because the reference to “Friends” being an inferior copy of “Coupling” was made a few weeks before I decided to sit down and watch my DVDs of it and I didn't make the connection at the time. Dang youse, Clam Chowder! But enough of that. I'm sure this isn't how Saturday will go down, but here’s what I'm thinking. John and I will meet somewhere, probably the shop but maybe not. We'll load up the argon bottle in the back of Fifi and go to Blanks Welding Supply and seek out a Polaris dealer. We'll buy argon and wheel studs and nuts respectively. Then, hopefully, we’ll get back to the shop and mess with Nadine. OK, yeah, it is more likely that we’d get back to the shop and leave, but I can dream can't I? What would be really awesome would be for John to swing by a Polaris dealer and pick up the nuts and studs before Saturday and I'd reimburse him. Of course if I were to suggest that, I'd probably need to suggest me getting argon beforehand as well. Hmm, we’ll see. I probably have enough argon to tack the cross member into Nadine and it might prevent me from going hog-wild and zooking it in too permanently. Hmm, interesting. Of course, sitting here twenty miles away from the shop, I'm beginning to think about bolting it in again. No, that would be a lot of work. I think a few little tack welds to the frame ort to suffice. Then again, if that frame flexes right there, those could pop pretty easily. I can see that frame flexing right there. I mean I can imagine that it flexes right there, I can't actually “SEE” it flexing. It won't matter sitting still because the engine can't go anywhere, but torque could tweak that cross member off of the frame if it isn't secured. Then there is bounce to consider. I can imagine a circumstance where the car suddenly moves to a point well below where inertia has the engine. Say, crossing a railroad track too quickly. That could bang the engine into the bonnet, or worse break something on landing. No, that cross member needs to be securely zooked into place. Oz has spoken. Fuf! I think I need to go release a hostage. Hang on, I'll be right back. OK, just as I was finishing up the paperwork for that last transaction, I got an e-mail. It said they were having trouble with the projector in the Texas Room across the street. I hopped on the shuttle and went over for a look-see. As I entered the room, I had an idea what was wrong. It looked like the GRPS needed to be reconfigured. Once I did that, the thing worked. I went to tell Brenda what was wrong and she asked what the GRPS was. “Giant Red Power Switch,” I told her. The power to the rack was turned off. She drug me into the office of the guy who had made the complaint and he was rather embarrassed. I told a few other folks what the issue was as I was headed back here to talk to y'all. And now I'm back... talking to y'all. And now I have nothing more to say. I guess I'll leave it at that then. Yeah, that’s exactly what I'll do.