Well…it worked out well when the rain started just as I was pulling up to the garage after the first ride today…so I jumped right into changing the gear oil in the transmission and it took about an hour with my transfer pump falling apart and spilling a bunch of oil on the floor…but I still had plenty and now it’s done…the oil that came out was regular dino oil and not synthetic since it smelled like every gear lube I’ve every used…the fill plug came out easily but I needed my impact wrench to get the drain plug loose…one little zap by the wrench and it was out so that was cool…and I checked the magnet on the drain plug and there were no metal shavings on it so that means no wear for me to worry about…if I do this again, I think I’m going to buy a little electric transfer pump since I can get one for about 20 bucks and that would be a lot easier…but I’ll never need it on this car so maybe not…damn, it feels good to have this done…and now I can sit here and have more coffee and read some news…I think it took more time to clean up my tools than to actually change the oil…but they are clean now and drying downstairs…yay!

Well…damn, I’m running late already this morning even with getting up at 5:11 so I won’t have time to have a bagel before I get on the bike to get a ride in before the rain comes in at 7:30…so then I’ll work on the car while it’s raining and then go back out for ride 2…I do have to remember to write the checks for the taxes and water bill and get them paid this week and then I won’t have to think about bills until I get back from Italy…didn’t sleep for crap last night but I’m going to stop thinking about that and deal with it by just making more coffee in the morning…only have a little over 6 cups leftover in the carafe today so I’ll be making more after I get the bike ride in and car done…the car stuff has been hanging over me for weeks now and I just want it done…I can taste the difference between the cheap ground coffee I made yesterday and the whole bean I’m making later…I wonder how that difference would taste if I could taste like a normal person? I still have 8.8 pounds of beans in storage that I hope will get me through the rest of the year…the espresso beans I was getting for 15 bucks are now 25 so it looks like I won’t be buying any any time soon…not much to do today…okay, that’s not true, have lots to do and I need to get off my butt right now and get started….more later….okay, just went out to look for beans on amazon and found another type of espresso beans by Lavazza for only 13.49 a kilo so now I’ll have 11 pounds of beans on hand…and that will surely be enough to get me to spring…and if they are good, I may buy one more…who knows?

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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….

Well…I guess that’s what I get from trying to get work done today…after I got the rides in and did the laundry, I read for a bit and then decided to change the oil in the car and that didn’t go well with not being able to gt the oil filter off…I wasn’t surprised with that…most people reef the damn things down with a wrench so, after the heat cycles, there is no damn way to get them off without tools…and it doesn’t help that there is no room around it to put a pair of channel loks on it…and I wasn’t going to pound a screwdriver through it..so I ordered a tool that uses a 3/8 drive that I can put my 3/8th breaker bar on with an extension to get it loose…and that tool will be here tomorrow so I guess I can wait…I did change the oil, though, since I was already dirty from climbing under the car…the drain plug came out easily and I had a short metric socket that fit…and being under the car, I took a look at where the drain plug and fill plug are for the transmission so I can change that oil out to a synthetic but the Ford mystery oil that I used in the old Miata went from 25 bucks a quart to over 50 and I need 3 quarts so I’m not paying 150 bucks for 2.2 quarts of oil…so I think I’m going to try Red Line synthetic that’s only about 60 bucks for 3 quarts and got rave reviews…it sounds like they put the wrong oil in it…probably a gl-5 instead of a gl-4 which has added additives that can damage the synchros…and the drain and fill for the transmission are right out in the open and easy to get to…so that will be on the agenda for next week…I’ll see if the plugs will come out after I get the oil filter off tomorrow…so that was my day and I’ve never had such a problem changing oil before…okay, the first one on the old Miata was a real pain getting filter off and I did pound a screwdriver through it to get it to turn…oh, I also took a wire brush to some bolts that had corrosion on them and then treated them with rust preventer to make sure it doesn’t come back…okay, I’m done for the day…