5/7/12

Well, that might not have been the least productive weekend at the shop, but I think it might come close.  It could almost be argued that it was, in fact, counterproductive in that only one of Lil' Wiggly's carburetors is controlled by the throttle now.  Of course the counter argument is that we had to disconnect the carburetors from each other in order to put on the new linkage… but the new linkage hasn’t arrived from Italy yet so that argument could be considered moo as well.  Here’s what went down.  I got up at my usual 0530 h to feed the cat.  I decided to go ahead and start getting ready to go to the shop.  Ok, I read a chapter or three on the toilet then got ready for the shop.  I left the house around 0730 h and pulled in right behind John.  We decided that this might be the first time we ever arrived at the same time.  We got to work on the choke cable installation.  We switched the bracket from the rear carburetor to the front and threaded it through from the dash.  Yeah, six feet was plenty long enough after all.  Unfortunately, the cable wanted to be in the same location as the throttle arm.  After messing with it for a while, we finally gave up and decided to fill the hole in the dash with something else.  What that will be, I'm not sure yet.  I unbolted the carburetors from the manifold and we scooted them out just enough to remove the interconnection link which I never liked much.  I then bolted the carburetors back on.  I noticed that the nuts we had been using for the interconnection did not line up any more.  I commented to John about it and we decided that might have been part of our issue.  George showed up and he and I went to get the turbine wheels I had bought from him at the swap meet.  While “shopping” in his storage unit, I saw a piece of white plastic which used to be the under tray or skid plate of a race car.  I asked what he was going to do with it and he shrugged.  I told him I need something like that for the filler piece on Lil' Wiggly whereupon he dig the thing out.  We went back to my shop and I measured out what we’d need for the piece.  John and I cut it out with the “Jumping Up and Down” saw then took it to the car for a test fit.  Once I removed the two license plates I asked how it would look if we just painted everything in there black and left it as a gaping “Shark Mouth.”  John approved and we began looking for painting supplies.  John found the tape and began masking off the opening… after cleaning the area a bit first of course.  I found a can of gloss black and a can with perhaps one or two spritzes of flat black.  We removed the grille and John cleaned it up some as well.  He hung it up on the painting hook and we decided that he would bring flat or semi-flat black paint next weekend.  So, that is about all we got accomplished, car wise.  Now, you may remember, if I actually said anything about it, which I'm not sure if I have… let me start over.  I've been thinking about my guns recently.  I've been thinking that I otter cut down on some of them.  I've been thinking that I don’t really need three .22s.  I decided that I was going to sell the 4” Beretta Neos pistol and keep the 6” barrel, pistol grip, carbine barrel, and carbine stock as the convertible system I had originally bought it as.  Ok, so now I'm down to two and a half .22s.  Ever since last summer, when the Roper family found out what a crack shot their oldest boy James is with a .22, John has been thinking of giving him a rifle.  I recently began thinking of giving him the Ruger 10/22.  I had brought it to the shop with me and asked John if he was interested in it for the boy.  I paid a little too much for it, although I saw one at the gun show Sunday for about the same price I paid, and decided that selling it to them for half that, was essentially, kind of, like giving it to him, sort of.  Turns out his birthday is coming up so John went for it.  Unfortunately, that meant John couldn’t buy Bobbi from me like he had been planning to do.  D’oh!  I half-assed asked if he was interested in my 4” 1911, Hedley LaMarr, but he wants a Dessert Eagle… or something, so I let it drop.  Eventually we went to Wasabi Sushi for… well, sushi of course.  We have discovered our new lunch spot… and the item we’re going to get there.  Their Cajun Roll is just about to die for.  We’re already planning to have lunch there next Saturday.  When we’d eaten and paid, we hung out in the parking lot, as we are wont to do, and then went our separate ways.  I got home to find mom gone so I parked Fifi and hopped in Fiona.  She needed gasoline so I headed out to do that.  As I was driving past, I noticed a gold car going the other direction.  Just as it went past my peripheral vision I realized it was mom.  I looked in the mirror for confirmation and it was her.  I went on to the gas station.  Back at the house I wasted the rest of the day.  Ok, now I need to decide if I'm telling the tale of Sunday at the gun show or if I'm going to save it for tomorrow.  Well, it looks like I've filled a page, at least, so I'll save the gun show story after all.  Have a day.