Well…the last piece of the puzzle of changing the oil in the transmission of the car just showed up so I’ll be ready to go tomorrow morning after I get the rides in…got a 6 point 24mm socket and a bunch of adapters so I could even use my electric impact wrench if I want…don’t think I’ll need that since the fill and drain plug are bathed in oil all the time so how can they be corroded and stuck?…if it all goes well, it shouldn’t take more than 45 minutes and then I’ll be done with everything I want to do to the car but wash and wax it and I may do that tomorrow, too…I think I’m done with the beach for the year so I can vacuum the sand out of it, too…the shifting is already a lot better with getting the air out of the clutch line but I just want it to shift when it’s cold…I did get out for 2 rides today but not until about 9 when the rain stopped and I still got done before Man U played at 11:30…and they won convincingly so maybe this will be a good season…it it rains in the morning, I’ll jump right on the car before the rides and get that done…didn’t get anything else done today but that’s okay, oh, I did give myself a haircut while I was waiting for the rain to stop…does that count for getting something done? Does to me…need to go down and charge the battery for the impact wrench…
I have something to say to the world…
Well…I have something to say to the world this morning after reading the reactions to the asshole trump and what he has done to the world in our name…here in the US most of us are also waiting for him to be gone and we have hunkered down to try to survive it…and just try to remember that he will be gone in 2 years along with his stupid cronies and I would ask that when he is, you give us the chance to repair the damage this moron has done…remember back to when honorable people were in charge here and the good things that happened when they were…read a comment this morning that said “we’ll never fucking trust you again” and I really can’t blame the world for that…we don’t trust this asshole, either but give the non maga good people here the chance to show that we can be good partners and all of what is going on is from one person…and only 30% of the people in the US support what the idiot trump is doing…so, when this nightmare is over, please give us a chance to show you the US is not trump and help us repair the damage he’s done…we’re going to do our part starting after the election this fall…
August 30th
Well…I don’t know how to act…got up at 5:10 today to a small thunderstorm that is supposed to last until noon or so I’m sitting here trying to figure out what the hell to do with not being able to get out on the bike…and it looks like I won’t be able to until noon or so and I think that will make this the elusive one ride day my legs have been needing for the entire summer…I wonder if I need to skip the bagel to make sure I don’t have too many calories today? Not sure yet but it sure is weird to not be out on the bike in the dark…oh, well…so that gives me the weirdest of mornings…don’t know what to do so I think I’ll just drink coffee and watch MotoGP in the background…for some reason both thumbs hurt today and I think it’s probably from trying to get the damn oil filter off…now that I know there is enough room around the filter to get a strap wrench on it, I’ll think about buying one but that doesn’t have to happen for a year since I won’t change the oil again for 18 months or so…and if the socket comes this morning, I may change the trans oil out today to take advantage of the rain keeping me off the bike…I really need to get cleaning since I want to have this place clean before I head to Italy and do need to start getting the packing started..still have stuff from the UK trip in my suitcase that needs to come out and I need to clean it before I start packing…and I have to remember to pack some compression socks for sitting on the plane for 7 hours across the Atlantic…it has finally hit me that I’m going to Europe in a couple of weeks and that is going to be so cool…and we are taking trains between the cities we’re visiting and I just love how nice the trains are outside of the US…okay, need more coffee and to figure out how to just sit here…that’s going to be hard..more later…
Got the gear oil…
Well…amazon is weird some times…just today they delivered 2 of the quarts of transmission oil I ordered in one package….and an hour or so later the 3rd quart came in a separate package…I was getting a little concerned that they screwed up the order when they delivered the first 2…strange…they weren’t even supposed to come until Monday..and the 24mm socket and adapters I ordered will be here tomorrow so I can change the oil Monday instead of Tuesday…oh, well…at least it will all be done…
It’s now okay to be a thief when you apply to the FBI…
Well…the enshittification of the federal government continues after ICE lowered their standards and allow people with sexual assault convictions to be hired along with a litany of other offenses…and now the idiot patel is doing the same thing with the FBI saying being a thief is okay if it happened more than three years ago and if you only hired two prostitutes you are good to go…and human trafficking convictions are just peachy with patel…hmmm…do you think firing most of the FBI was a good move? Doesn’t look that was with how hard it is to find competent people who want to work for the most corrupt FBI head in history…so of course they lower the standards…after all the heads of many departments have convictions for all kind of felonies and they probably want people like them to work for them…and I don’t think using the FBI to do idiot boy’s bidding is what the majority of people are interested in doing with their lives…so what’s next? Be like Russia and recruit from the prisons here in the US? After all, they may consider that a qualification since you have to know something to break the law…geez…
That sucked…
Well…tied to use the oil filter tool to remove the filter but the first time I put some pressure on it the flanges that grab the filter bent so it wouldn’t work anymore so I called a local oil change joint and offered to pay them to just replace the filter but they did it for free since I had the filter with me…and that was cool…and the tech there was going to lend me a 24mm socket so I could change my trans oil but he couldn’t find it in his truck…but that was still pretty cool…so I ordered a 24mm and some adapters on amazon so I’ll be ready to change the oil Tuesday…I’m still smiling that the young guy at the oil change place was so nice…so, I’m done for the day…need more coffee…
August 29th
Well…okay, didn’t sleep at all last night and I’m feeling it this morning…man, I could use a day off the bike but I only have 19 days and I’ll have 2 weeks off so I guess I’ll gut it out and keep going…so that means getting going right now and getting the weight work in before I get out…but I’ve got an hour so there’s really no hurry…I do need the coffee to work right now, though, so I’ll have a little energy…think I didn’t eat enough again yesterday with just a dog and a salami sandwich and that’s well under 1K calories and I know that won’t support my activity level so I’ll start today with a bagel here in a minute…I really do hate having things hanging over me like trying to get the oil filter off the car and I won’t be able to relax until I get the damn thing off and loosen up the plugs on the transmission…I really should wash the car but it looks like rain (ha,ha) tonight and tomorrow so maybe not…and I need to wax it, too so that will take more time…maybe after I get the filter off…I really should do some cleaning around here today but with my energy level right now that isn’t going to happen…okay, need the bagel and more coffee…more later…
Got the filter tool…
Well…just got the oil filter removal tool that I ordered and it looks like a clever little unit that grabs onto the filter with a cam action that tightens as you loosen the filter…so I’ll give it a try tomorrow morning after the rides so I can keep the old oil in the filter from contaminating the new stuff…I know it’s only about a pint but I don’t want the crap in the filter circulating in the new oil…the thing is pretty small and I have to compliment the design…if it works…I did order the red line synthetic trans oil today, too…62 bucks for 3 quarts but that is a hell of a lot better than the Ford stuff that would have been 150 bucks and I’m just not paying that just for oil…it looks like I can get my 18inch pipe wrench on the filler plug and drain plug if I don’t have a socket that will fit…I can always go to HF to get one if I need it…I am looking forward to having the trans work like it’s supposed to as the ratings say on amazon…I really do think they put the wrong oil in that is too slippery for the synchros to work right…they need some bite to be able to match the gears up correctly and the gl-5 is not the right one…the oil will be here Monday so I’ll change it Tuesday and take the car out for the grocery run Wed to test it…I did get the lawn mowed today and will do it one more time before I leave…oh, when I was on the 2nd ride and heading through the tunnel of trees, there were 5 deer standing on the trail and they didn’t move as I cut between them…these are the deer who have been just standing there before when I went by but I’ve never had 5 of them stand there…I guess they’re used to me…pretty cool…
Ha, stupid trump….
Well…can trump get an stupider? Yeah, we all know he can and the latest reporting says that he can barely dress himself anymore…but that’s not what this about…after idiot boy started to attack Canada and has the delusion that Canada is so dependent on the US that he can bully them all he wants, all you have to do is look at the GDP numbers to see how effective his stupid tariffs are…in the 2nd quarter the US economy eaked out a 1.5% growth rate…being dragged down by idiot boy’s tariffs…but Canada’s growth for the 2nd was 3.3% owing to a surge in exports and huge domestic investments…and do you remember what the tariffs and bullying led to? Canada has signed many trade agreements cutting the US out and these are just starting to show how smart Canada’s leadership was to abandon trying to deal with the idiot…and this is just the start for Canada and the rest of the trading partners who have said enough to idiot boy’s bluster and bullying…the rest of the world is not going to sign any trade agreements with the idiot and are just waiting for him to be gone before they even talk to the US…how do you bully someone who ignores you? It’s what I’ve been saying for quite a while…idiot boy needs to be isolated by the world because he is not mentally stable…and his bullshit is only supported by the maga faithful which is shrinking ever day…geez…
August 28th
Well…up and moving at 5am this morning and part of that is the almost full moon flooding my bedroom with moonlight…I may have to change the blinds in there to room darkening ones…it’s only 55 out there so there will be a fleece for the first ride today…I think I’ll wait til almost light to go out today since I really don’t have much to do other than getting the stuck oil filter changed and ordering the synthetic trans oil so I can change that next week…hope that helps with the hard shifting when it’s cold in the winter…still think they put the wrong oil in whenever they changed it…or if they haven’t changed it in 18 years…going to get the weight work in before I head out this morning since it’s a pain thinking about it all day and remembering to do it…I got the last pair of shorts I ordered for Italy yesterday and I wore a pair out for errands yesterday and I like them…they’re not cotton but I can live with that since I needed something new for the trip…and I’m getting used to the new walking shoes I bought and they look just a little stylish and I don’t know what I think about that….I’m the farthest person from stylish but it is nice to have new clothes for the first time in years…and that gives me 4 pairs to take with me…not much to do today…after getting the oil changed yesterday I won’t have to do that for a couple of years but I do need to get off my butt and clean the kitchen and plan some meals today…more later….