HUGE MOTHER FUCKING RAVE: Had the county board meeting today and they closed the case and I don't have to deal with the soil. Saves me six figures and basically doubled my property value. I am flying on cloud nine right now.
Rave : I’ve achieved a patron of the arts hat trick. I’ve been a listed in the liner notes for a metal album, received an acknowledgment in a novel, and now am listed on an IMDb page for an independent film. I can’t actually create anything, but I support those who do.
RANT/ RAVE: Got the car home this afternoon. It was Jungle Julia's first time towing a car with a chain (I was not about to let her ride in the "bitch car" with no power steering or power brakes), and she said "it was one of the hardest things she'd ever done." SMH... Anyway, I got it to start once I got it home, but that doesn't mean shit to me: The hydrolock happened at about 5,500 RPM, so the engine has to come out and be inspected. I'll be giving a detailed writeup in the automotive thread in the coming days. But before that, I've got to get that '90 Suburban running, because that's going to be my daily in the meantime!
Was this in the Firebird? I'm trying to imagine a scenario where the RPM's would be that high and also a chance of standing water.
Car was my 5.4-swapped '07 Grand Marquis. I'm about 99% sure that the intake manifold gasket failed at the coolant crossover, a known failure point on these engines. I floored it to make it through a yellow light, and then the engine died.
1/2 Rant, 1/2 Rave: Our band now officially has more gigs booked for the first three months of 2022 than all of this year combined. I’ll be playing somewhere five weekends in a row, which I don’t think we did when we were at our peak ( or what we thought was our peak until now ). I love playing out, and we will probably finally hit the NYC scene like we once dreamed, but damn I hate the idea of all that traveling.
RAVE: I have some pretty happy employees right now. Gave them a nice little cash Xmas bonus, let them leave early and told them that we're going to introduce a 401k plan in 2022. Not a big deal for large companies, but almost unheard of for the number of employees I have.
Rant: The marina near our lake house that I've been going to since I could walk burned to the ground this morning. It's right off a bridge named for my grandfather and we had family photos hanging on the wall. This sucks.
RANT: Woke up to a text from my main tech saying he's at the ER. Has a 4mm kidney stone and will probably be out the rest of the week. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck
Rant: Covid just ripped through the breakfast joint I’ve recently left. 33 total staff, 100% infection, one dead. He was 28, single father of a 10 month old. Solid skill set but light on the brains. Unvaccinated. Rave: The missus and I are looking into adopting his kid. The grandma isn’t in any shape to look after her and we’re in a good place right now.
Rant: We got about 7inches of snow today. The snow blower I've used once wouldn't start...guess who hand shoveled our driveway and corner lot.
Rant: The root cause of my grandma's bowel issues is cancer that they only found during surgery to fix what they thought was a routine blockage. The oncologist gave her six months left of life.
RAVE: Local libraries are giving away free home covid tests. Was able to scoop up a few. RAVE: Tested negative. T-Minus three hours until booster shot.
Rave: dad doesn’t have Covid, RSV, or the flu. Rant: he’s sick so it’s not good. Spoiler: I just hate this. he just looks so tired. And mom is so tired. And I don’t know how to help. My dad has been a mechanic most of my life and today when I saw him his hands are clean. I’ve never seen my dad with clean hands. Even under his nails isn’t stained. we think it’s the big obvious stuff that will jump up and hurt during these things but looking over and seeing such a…it’s really inconsequential isn’t it? Except it isn’t. Because his hands have never been this clean. until this. and I hate it.
RAVE: When I was way younger (pre-teen?), Star Wars came out in theatres. Saw it many times, and fell in love with it. I then started collecting the Star Wars cards; started with the blue set, then the red set with holograms. It was one of those things where I collected the entire set, and some of my fondest memories were of going down to the local candy store (Mac's Milk) and buying a couple of new packs every Saturday with my allowance. I loved them, and had them all. Once I headed off to university and moved out, though, I still had my old room at my parent's home, and kept some stuff there. Well, Mom threw out a bunch of "useless crap", including my Star Wars cards. More than once over the years I've brought that up, to a bunch of eye-rolling. Fast forward to this Xmas, and she bought me a replacement set of the blue cards... one of each. Not pristine by any stretch, but in very good condition. I laughed, and it is awesome.