9/28/12

I just went back and re-read some old rants from 2008.  No wonder I weighed over 300 pounds!  There were many times when I was talking about the junk I was eating and drinking while talking to y'all.  Now, after so many months of a “better” diet, I'm aghast that I'd be bragging about eating a package of vanilla Zingers and washing it down with a Pepsi… a regular, “high octane” Pepsi at that.  Of course at that time the thought of drinking a diet soda was as foreign to me as… well, the thought of drinking a bunch of non-diet soda is today.  Also, I re-read my revue of the movie “Tropic Thunder.”  I'd like to quote myself here, “So, in conclusion, go see ‘Tropic Thunder’ right now.  Shut off your computer and go see it.  Quit your job and go see it.  Leave your spouse and children and go see it.  Ok, don’t quit your job or abandon your family, but go see it!  It is the most significant and influential, film of all time!  But I don’t want to over sell it.”  I nearly fell out of my chair when I read that earlier today.  I'm still giggling about it.  I said something else somewhere else which made me laugh out loud too, but I don’t remember what it was.  Now, you might be wondering why I was re-reading old rants.  I'll tell you.  I was trying to remember when I did the sea shanty on “International Talk Like a Pirate Day.”  Turns out it was back in 2008… September 19, 2008 to be exact… since that is ITLPD.  I'm not sure if it IS “International,” but that does give it a bit more zazzle.  So, there’s that going on.  Oh!  I got a text from John earlier saying that Fiona is done with metal work and is going in for paint today.  Yeah!  I was shocked too.  I can't believe it is this close to being done.  Of course there is no telling how long they are going to keep it while fighting with the other insurance company about the real price to fix it.  I told John that we need to take the quote the shop gave me to the credit onion and get them to endorse that cheque so I can turn it in to the body shop as the down payment… sort of thing.  We’re also planning to move Lil' Wiggly from my house to the shop, shuffle the Z-20 engine to the main bay so he can get ready to get ready to install it in his 1200, and I'd like to hang the 289 on an engine stand.  He and I are at loggerheads over what type of flares to put on Lil' Wiggly.  Ok, that isn’t exactly true.  He suggested ZG flares and I countered with an idea I had for some mondo-IMSA style rounded box flares made from trailer fenders.  He said he’d hate them but that it IS my car.  I'm picturing The Seven's rear fenders “tacked on” to the outside of Lil' Wiggly's flanks.  I can see it in my head and I think it doesn’t look too bad.  By the way, I AM thinking HUGE flares to cover the Ford 8.8” axle we have… un-narrowed.  It’ll get shot down and we’ll go with John’s æsthetic choice in the end… but that’s what I'm thinking right now.  I think I mentioned this plan before but since I can't seem to think of anything else to talk about, I'll say it again.  I'm thinking that we need to yank the bored-out A-12 engine from George, salvage the expensive ceramic coated pistons and head from it, put them in/on an A-14 bottom end (probably the one coming out of Lil' Wiggly but with a stock cam), and rebuild my turbo engine that way.  I'd like to see how much compression loss we’d have if we used the A-12 crank in the A-14 block… this is sounding very familiar now that I'm writing it.  Hmm, not to change the subject too abruptly but, I think I'm done with my lunch.  Yep, the air ministry is calling for a bombing raid on the Dresden Porcelain Works.  I'll be right back.  Success!  Them NAZIs won't be making any fine porcelain for a while!  Anyhoo, so yeah, I think I'm not ready to abandon the draw-through turbo setup on George just yet.  I am going to abandon that particular bottom end however.  We’ll need to mark it in some way so that future generations won't try to use it to build an A-12 engine.  Feh, that’ll be future generations’ problem!  Ok, well I guess I've said about all I have to say today.  Y'all have a nice weekend.  I'll talk to you again Monday.