Weekend Preview

First off...

HAPPY BIRFDAY rusty_chevy!!



Next, because everyone else is doing it...

So, wookiemonster, your LiveJournal reveals…

You are… 1% unique, 11% peculiar, 31% interesting, 33% normal and 25% herdlike (partly because you, like everyone else, enjoy writing). When it comes to friends you are a total whore. In terms of the way you relate to people, you are keen to please. Your writing style (based on a recent public entry) is conventional.

Your overall weirdness is: 17

(The average level of weirdness is: 28.
You are weirder than 37% of other LJers.)

Find out what your weirdness level is!

Obviously, this meme sucks and is inaccurate... We all know I'm much further "out there" than this...

Friday...wasn't quite as interesting as I had originally hoped. This was largely because I spent most of the day at Gary's. The vacuum control valve for the EGR system was a simple enough fix. But the coolant leak... Turns out, it was coming from the water pump. Again. Gary replaced the gasket to the pump, but it didn't hold. Since that was the second gasket he's replaced on it, he ordered a new water pump. Now, the gasket wasn't completely blown, just not completely sealed, so, the car would have been driveable over the weekend and such, if needed. The pump got there at quarter to five. Gary closes at 5. Nevertheless, he stayed and replaced the pump, and I was on my way by 6:30. No charge, since everything's under warranty, but I still feel badly that he stayed an extra hour and a half, especially when I would have been willing to bring it back after the weekend. The other mechanics had left, and since Dad ingrained hardcore safety into me, I at least stayed in the bay and chatted with him while he worked. And yes, I did offer to help, even if it was holding things in place and such, and was as diplomatic about it as I could be, but he insisted he had everything under control. And for the record, I would have offered to help in any event, but Gary has Parkinson's. He's doing pretty well, but the last 20 minutes or so, the tremors were starting to act up. Next week (this coming Friday), I'll be in the area again and was planning on bringing him another payment for the engine; I'm trying to come up with something else to bring him as a "thank you" for staying late and such. Michael J. Fox's Always Looking Up? Mayhaps. Wish I knew if he was at all interested in science fiction, as maybe a book from the Starfleet Corps of Engineers might be good. Wish I could give him a cure for Parkinson's... Though, maybe I'll talk to Mom and we can make a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research in his name...

Anyway, we'll see how the new control valve holds up. If it pops again, then I might need a new charcoal canister which, fortunately, isn't expensive or hard to replace. But it might be a bitch to find...

Actually, with the new engine and some of the relocations made, new accessory brackets, and so on... It's a LOT easier to work on that car and get at stuff. Granted, older cars tend to have a layout under the hood that makes it a little easier to get at different components, compared to newer cars that are designed so that you have to take half the car apart just to change the battery and such. On the old engine, it was pretty much a given that one had to remove the air cleaner housing assembly to pretty much get at anything. Granted, that's a minor thing, and takes all of about 5 minutes total for removal and re-installation. But with the new performance assembly, it's a step that's been eliminated when dealing with belts, accessories, and anything not directly on top of the engine.

So... Good mechanic, good engine, good customization job. Good times...

Moving along...

Depending on the weather - we're supposed to get some funderstorms this weekend - I'll be working on the pool this weekend. Primary goal is to get the cover off, cleaned up, and put away as well as starting to bring the water level up. Or, at least up to the intake and return - I can't do the plumbing until I get a bag of filter sand. But I figure I'll do what I can do so that when I get the sand and chemicals, it's just a matter of chemical warfare and then the pool will be ready for swimming.

( Comics )

Caturday Nerdiness

So...whilst consuming brunch, Yoda and I watched the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Unnatural Selection" (a second season episode)...

Couple of things...

When they're approaching the Lantree (I think the ship used to be Shite-hoose), it looks like someone left their copy of the script on the arm of the captain's chair. I'll wait while you all run to your DVD collections and pull out the episode and check...

Next, when Riker and Data are looking for a sample of Dr. Pulaski's DNA... Okay, I can understand the need to override the lock on someone's quarters and start looking for something with their DNA on it. Still, their initial search seems...confused. What the hell is Data looking for on the floor and under the desk? Panties? Used condom? What??? Then he and Riker head to Pulaski's bathroom, and start going through her drawers (that can be taken so many ways, all of them bad), though Riker seems to be handling things like he would at a panty raid back at the Academy. Tucked in the back of one of the drawers is Pulaski's hairbrush.

Okay, how many people keep their hair brush tucked away in the back of a drawer? Other than bald people, I mean? Most people have aforementioned brush either on the sink or on their dresser. Did Pulaski get up that morning, say to herself, "I might find myself with my genetic code being rewritten so that I age more rapidly than a so-so top 40 song overplayed on the radio... To be a pain in the ass, let me hide my hair brush in a back drawer just so I know someone has to fondle my unmentionables to get to it..."

Lastly... Chief O'Brien. It's just about now that he (1) has a name and (2) people are noticing he's been in a few episodes and slowly becoming a recurring character. When they're using the transporter to restore Pulaski's DNA, the procedure seems to be not working at first. Picard is ready to say, "too bad, so sad, bye bye..." and, since reverse transport isn't possible, leave Pulaski as dispersed energy in space, but O'Brien interjects, does some transporter magic on the secondary, medical scan station, and presto-change-o! Pulaski is back to her middle-aged self! She hugs Picard, shakes Data's and Geordi's hands, and barely affords O'Brien a glance.

What!
The!
Fuck!?

Seriously... O'Brien at that point could have put on an old-series red shirt and said, "Beam me down to the next planet with violent inhabitants. I think I'll get better treatment as a martyred corpse."