Flat E and the trip to Virginia

Flat E and I went on a business trip to western Virginia. Visiting Lexington, VA we stopped at VMI, Virginia Military Academy. This is a place the some of our forefathers had some adventure during the Civil War.









From Lexington, VA, we traveled along the Maury River were the leaves were pretty. We also found an old lock set for traveling the river, the pictures are below.





After doing some business in Lexington, VA, we traveled to Buena Vista, VA that was only a few miles away. This is another small town in the Shenandoah Valley. Since it was during the fall, the colors were pretty. We also saw a cool sign in the city.





After I did my business, we then traveled back toward Lynchburg, VA from Buena Vista,VA along HWY 501. It starts out along the Maury River, then at the peak of the mountains, 501 parallels the James River where again the colors were great. The views are not as great as out west, but for Eastern Mountains, the view was pretty great.









And then we saw a cool snail. Flat E was too big to fit into the picture.



Hope you like the pictures. We are off to NYC next.

Last Update for K and the Gall Stones

K is doing much better today. She is eating without nausea and has only limited pain, typically A. A will get her laughing and the incisions will hurt, and A will keep going making K laugh harder, making it hurt more, but in a good way, I guess.

K and the Gall Stones, Update 3, Plus other stuff

It is now about 6 PM and K is feeling like she got run over by a truck. All of the nausea, as well as the two procedures have irritated her throat, so when she tries to eat or drink, it hurts. But she says that she feels way better at home than at the hospital, so that is good. Doing anything I can to help, but mostly just leaving her alone to sleep.

Meanwhile, A is on Fall Break but had to take the PCAT this morning. I got up at 6:25 this AM to make sure she was up, but apparently she had slept through her alarm. I knew that I was to hear noises and there were none. I made sure she had a good breakfast before going to the test. The test started at 8:45AM and was done at about 1:30PM.

C also wanted to spend some time at home this weekend, so I have also been making sure her laundry was done while she visited friends today. She needs periodic breaks from school and took Friday and today to give her mind a rest.

Hope your day is going great.

K and the Gall Stones, Update 2

I got the call from K this morning at 6:45 AM. The Doc officially said that she could come home. I will be leaving in a few minutes to get her, but first had to get A off to take the PCAT.

I will post more information later today.

Update, 9:00AM

K is now home and is resting as comfortably as possible given that she had gall baldder removal surgery. She is happy to be home, because the hospital is no place to get any rest.

K and the Gall Stones, Update

K ended up spending last night in the hospital as today the doctor is going to do a ERCP. That means that there was an escapee gall stone that was left over from the laparoscopic procedure that needed to come out. They do this by endoscope (the E in the above acronym). The doctor either destroys or extracts the stone, but one way or the other, it means another painful procedure.

It was done on K at about 1:30 PM today and the Doc says that everything is now fine. This miscreant stone is the probable reason that K had such bad nausea after the initial removal and over night. Now that this is done, K seems in good spirits, is eating liquids without nausea and if she can eat solid foods later this evening or tomorrow AM, should be home by noon.

Thanks for the calls, thoughts and prayers for K. We appreciate the concerns.

The first Flat E trip

E from the left coast sent a Flat E to me so that it could travel the world and report back to her class on those travels. So traveling we went. Below is a picture of Flat E getting ready for our road trip by hanging out at my car. She is waiting to leave on a 900 mile round trip driving from Greensboro, NC to Baltimore, MD.


No matter who you are, it is important to buckle your seat-belt!



Our first stop was at the University of NC to see my cousin A. We had breakfast but did not go onto the campus.



The next stop was some business that D had to do in Raleigh, NC. All Flat E saw was the outside of some industrial building, so there was nothing to photograph.

After that, D and Flat E stopped to see cousin C at the School for Science and Math. We had a great lunch and we got to take some pictures.





As you saw in another post, Flat E and I got to see our cousin ME outside of Washington, DC. Unfortunately it was late and too dark to go see any of the sights, but man are there a lot of cars in Washington, DC.

But a really cool thing happened, Flat E got a bead of her own at the Hotel.


The next day, we visited the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland. Many roads are called Francis Scott Key after the guy who wrote the Star Spangled Banner, our National Anthem.



We got to see a big, huge coast Gard Ship. It was 200 feet long.



Here is a picture of Flat E and the harbor



And this is a sailing ship docked at the Inner Harbor. It was huge with all that rope!



At Flat E and I got to see a real submarine docked. It was fierce looking. One of the employees was nice to take the picture.



And here are a couple more views of the Harbor.





It was a fun place to go. Flat E and I are going off to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia next week.

Visit to The Suburbs of DC

As noted on someone else's blog, I stopped by to visit MEH in MD on Tuesday evening. She had just come from a soccer game of Sh's, so we met about 7:30PM. ME was kind enough to offer me some home made tacos that were delicious. Thanks ME

As we visited for about 2 1/2 hours, we discussed the many changes in both of our lives. We laughed at many thing, seeing the funny side to many of the day-to-day life issues. In the end, she and I solved many of the problems that we face, but those that have the power to implement those changes have not yet called us. We wait for that call.

As my travels will take me that way more often, I will get to see her on a reasonably frequent basis. It is always fun to share time with her or any of my cousins.

On a fun request from the left coast blogger I brought Flat E with me and got a picture of ME and Flat E together. Here are the pics.

K and the Gall Stones

K had gall bladder removal surgery today. She had some nausea during the day and even up to dinner time, was unable to keep any liquids down. This alone would have kept her int he hospital overnight. Everything went rather as expected but during recovery, the Doc told me that there appeared to be an inflamed duct indicating recent gall stone activity.

Because of this, they are keeping K in the hospital tonight and going to do a endoscopic test tomorrow making sure that either the stone has cleared or they will clear it. So for tonight, K is in the hospital, feeling rather badly after the surgery.

On a positive note, she did have half of a fruit smoothie this evening that she was able to hold down.

More updates tomorrow.

C and the Roomies

While this sounds like an old Motown group, it is C and her two roommates. So far, they are getting along great for 3 people living in a 14 x 18 space. Thought those interested would like to see.

Picture Frame

A got a panoramic picture at the Smith Center in Chaple Hill earlier this year. She got it because she coudl see herself in the picture. The panaramic picture needed a custom frame, so this past weekend, a frame was made. This picture is too far away for you to see where A is, but she is on the right side, about 2/3's the way up. She is in the group that spells out TAR HEELS. Anyway, here are the results:

The Hutch

The above is a picture of the desk hutch that I built for A at school. As you can see, she has pretty well filled it from the start. She says she likes it.

School issue

C has been home for a couple of days due to a head lice break-out at school. He dorm hall was infested, as were several other halls, so they sent 40 kid away to help curtail the outbreak. It was the first ever outbreak of this kind in the 28 year history of her school. I guess there is a first time for everything.

We got a call about 11PM on Saturday evening asking for help. K and I went to the big W and purchased shampoo and spray to begin the control. C called on Sunday AM, saying that she was told to come home to get all her laundry re-done, all washed in HOT water and dried on HIGH heat to kill any live lice or eggs (called nits, and the origination of the term nit-picking).

K and I took the laundry to a local laundromat, spending about $40 on cleaning the clothes in about 2 hours. If we had done them at home, it would have taken about 2 days to do all the laundry, and then we still would have needed to go to the laundromat to do the comforters and blankets.

In the process of delivering the supplies to C at about 1 AM Sunday, I apparently hit a piece of shredded truck tire with my Passat, cracking the oil pan. Fortunately the oil leaked out slowly and did not cause any issues other than needing a new oil pan and a minor oil spill hazard on I-85. The only way that I found the leak was seeing the oil under the car on Sunday afternoon. When I checked the oil, prior to starting the car, it was down 3 out of 6 quarts. I added enough oil to get it on the dipstick before starting the car, and put the car on ramps so that the repairs could be made. Monday, I went to the local VW dealership to get the pan and gasket. Installation took about an hour, including oil change.

This is the hutch that I built for the back of A's desk at college. It is her design, so it should complete the storage for her room. There is one shelf for the small cubby on the right end, but I need to get shelf pins. I will deliver it tomorrow, an then post a pic of the installed look

It has been too long

and we have been busy. The quick update:

Over Labor Day weekend, we went to the beach, Myrtle Beach that is. It was hot (95F), humid and sunny, just like it is suppose to be this time of the year. C was with us, but A had school things to do, so she stayed home. We only went for two nights and came home on Sunday because C had some homework to do and the Condo we rented did not have high speed Internet. C also forgot her charger for the computer so had little battery left to do anything.

It seems that C has a small bit of blond in her. We left Friday for the beach, we got about an hour from Durham and C announces that she has left her keys back in the dorm room. No real problem, security or her roomies will let her in. As we get further into the trip to Myrtle Beach, C announces that she does not have her cell phone, and probably left it next to her keys in Durham. No problem, we loan her K's phone so she can enjoy a little freedom from us but still be in contact. During the weekend, C accidentally locks the keys in the Van, but no problem as we had the other set with us, in K's possession, about 100 yards from where C parked the van.

As we get back to the house first, and then back to Durham, we empty the van of all things C, and cannot find her cell phone. It is about 8:00PM when C gets into her room, finds her keys, but cannot locate the cell phone. At about 10PM, I get a call from C on HER phone. She says she found it but, giggling would not tell us where. Finally, earlier today, she said she had it with her all the time, but did not know it. It was in her purse.

Somebody may need a smaller purse.

So it seems that C really likes her new school. Yes the classes are harder, but she is adapting well to the pace and requirements.

A is adapting to the university life again. She is rushing a sorority, so we will see how far that goes. I hope she likes it, if she chooses that direction. A is also involved with Carolina Fever, the UNC student fan club charged with distributing the student athletic tickets fairly; the Water Polo Club, is a committee member for the Dance Marathon; job shadows; and is involved in other things that I cannot remember.

K and I miss having either of them around, but we get to see A about once per week as she comes home to "Job Shadow" a pharmacist near our house. She seems to like it.

Small Town NC

As A was going to the beach recently, she spied this as they drove along I-40 east of I-95:



Yep, the small town of Faison is near Mt Olive and has a large pickle plant (Mt Olive Pickles) Just thought it would be interesting for some others to see.

Cedar Chest

My sister J was changing houses and downsizing to quantity of stuff she is required to cram into her domicile. She asked and I accepted the possession of a cedar chest that belonged to my maternal Grandmother. There were two minor issues, it was in Toledo and it was locked without a known key.

The first issue was no problem. My van can handle the cedar chest and with help from my nephew BW, it was in the van in no time.

The second issue proved slightly more challenging. My father had tried every skeleton key in his possession in an effort to open the chest. The closest thing to working was the key to the door of the grandmother clock, but it would not work.

So K and I get the chest back home and get it unloaded from the Van. It is heavy because it still has STUFF in it, stuff that is not mine. So K and I go looking at the usual places for a "blank" skeleton key without success. After 5 PM, we get a suggestion to try an Antique dealer in the Downtown area, but they close at 5.

So the next day, K goes to the Antique dealer and buys a blank key for $4,using the one from the grandmother clock as an example. The dealer voiced scepticism to K that I could get the key to work and he provided the name of a local Locksmith to make this key for us if needed.

The glove was thrown down. It took me only about an hour of drilling, filing and fitting, but I found success. It took drilling out the center of the key to make it fit over the pin, shortening the flange part and install the groove in the right location. Below is a picture of the crude key that I made. It works fine.



So J, if you find a key that looks something like this, I am open to having it sent to me.

Quilt that K made

Below are a couple of pictures of a quilt that K made as a baby shower for my neice, B. She is due to have her first in about 6 weeks. The quilt looked wonderful and the pictures do not do justice for the quilt, but I cannot stuff the quilt onto the computer screen.

School Time Empty Nest

AT 5 PM, EDT on 8-18-07, K and I are School Year Empty Nesters. Boy this house is quiet!

As college is only 45 minutes away, A had delivered one car load of stuff to her dorm room, and had come home and spent Thursday evening at home. This past Friday, A left for school. We delivered one Van full of the remainder of A's stuff (futon, refrigerator, storage containers, multiple boxes). She is now a resident of CH NC for the school year. It was 104 when we delivered A and her stuff to her dorm, so it was quite hot.

On Saturday at 9AM, we began the drop off process for C in Durham at her new high school. Here is a picture of the entrance:



We got her stuff into her room in about 20 minutes with the help of many of the Senior students at the school, then K and I were sent to a local store to get some storage containers and other miscellaneous items that were needed. We got back in time for A to show up and to go to lunch. As there was nothing planned for the students eating wise, we went to Durham near the Duke campus for lunch. Below are some pictures of the school, C's room (very cramped) and as always A and C together.











As parents, K and I were called into 2 meetings going over the rules and regulations for the school. This was to let the parents know that there are some pretty strict rules about conduct, vices, and study that are required for the students. The school will be a challenge for C, but we know she is up to the task.

As I post this on Sunday, K and I have heard from C twice since we left at 4:30PM yesterday. C called once today, to talk with K and just say she is OK. The other time she called me to get help on a computer issue. We worked through the computer issue and she was off again in typical self sufficient C fashion.

The school encourages the students and parents to limit the contact during the first 2 weeks of class due to bonding issues. They are trying to break the dependency bond, reducing the homesickness of some of the kids.

On the positive (for me anyway) side, the school blocks many of the social or potentially objectionable websites. IIRC, to log into Facebook and some of the perceived negative web sites, she must go somewhere else, off campus, to find an unsecured web access. As the closest is 5 or 6 blocks away and C must sign out, it is not very easy to do given the limited time available.

We will have C on an extended weekend over Labor Day, when we will go to Myrtle Beach. By that time, C may be swamped with homework. We will find out much then.

Dad's Wedding

For those of you that did not know, my father got married last weekend. Nothing unusual about that, other than he is 80 years old and married Dorothy, an 80 year old woman. My brother, sisters and I are very happy for Dad and Dorothy. I am going to try something different on this post and post links to my photobucket account for purposes of pictures.

Before the pictures, there is one minor story: My father asked me to stand for his wedding and I agreed without reservations. As I was getting ready for he wedding, I noticed a very small but new hole in the lapel of my suit about the size of a wire clothes hanger hook end. I spent about 20 minutes trying to find a way to hide the hole, finally using the boutonniere as the mask. Fast forward to about 10 minutes before the wedding was to begin. I was walking out in the church to find someone for answers to a question. My S-I-L's mother (Mrs. L) stopped me and asked a question. Her question prompted my memory...... I FORGOT THE RINGS. Yep, left them at Dad's house. I quickly excused myself from Mrs L., told Dad what had happened and hopped into the car. God and the Sylvan Police were looking out for me as I made it from the church, to Dad's house and back to the church in 6 minutes. No speeding tickets, no adverse traffic signals, back in the church before time to start the wedding.

Power Shopping

It is "Sales Tax Free" weekend in NC, so K and I took C shopping for some of the off to school things she will need. In a little over an hour, $400 was spent in school and dorm supplies. There were no clothes purchased. That does not include the computer that was ordered today for her, for delivery when she arrives at school.

We have not decided if a dorm type refrigerator is appropriate yet or not. C will have 2 roommates when she goes off to school, so the room may get cramped and the others may bring refrigerators as well.. No need for 3.

Seems wierd

That in only about 23 days, both A and C will be off to school and the house will be very quiet. I am not looking forward to it, both have grown nicely to young adults and are generally fun to be around.

I knnow you guys

Think I am crazy, but... you are probably right. Tonight after work, I fixed C's VW shifter. It seems there was a lot of excess play in the gear shift for the manual transmission, so it was not going into gear properly.

I checked online for what the various communities suggested (http://www.vwvortex.com), checked out the problems and ordered the parts. The parts came today, so tonight I installed them. It took about an hour and a half, and the car shifts much tighter. I even installed a short shift linkage to improve the shift.

Next up on the repairs, C's VW and a window regulator (the thing that makes the window go up and down). Only after the parts arrive. No wonder I am getting a good rating on eBay.

Something good happened

last week. A wanted to have a couple of friends, who were in town to see a concert, over for the night and gave K very short notice. They are from Asheville, so would have had a 3 hour drive home at 11PM. As K is in the middle of a sewing project, the house was not exactly up to snuff.

So K stopped what she was doing, and made the house presentable. The friends came over and everything was fine.

The next day, after her friends had left, A wrote a note to K saying that she appreciated the work that K did to get the house clean and how nice the place looked when they got there. My baby is growing up! Sniff, sniff.

It has been too long

And I have been too busy.

Some highlights:

Traveling much due to work. I have been to Northwest Ohio, Cincinnati, and Columbus (tried to stop in at R and J's but they were not home) on a quick business trip.

I have been to Savannah GA for a trade show. I rode the Juliette Gordon Low water taxi (for you GS's) from my hotel to the down town business area across the Savannah River. It was also fun to watch the multiple container ships traversing the river Then off to the mountains of NC, all on business.

I have been to Atlanta, GA, again on business.

I have been working on the cars here to keep them running properly, doing oil changes, routine maintenance, and fixing a couple of minor issues. I now do my own oil changes because the people that we had previously taken the cars to did not put the oil plug back in tightly, leaving an oil leak and a potential for catastrophic damage to A's car and did not fill up the oil as needed in the Van. I am also being environmentally responsible by recycling the oil properly and disposing of the oil filter at a hazardous material disposal site maintained by the county.

Yesterday, I went to see B and K in VA. B was asking for help on some electrical issues regarding his fish tank and refrigerator. It seems both the fish tanks and his refrigerator are all on the same 15A service breaker. Every once in a while, the breaker would trip causing issues for the food and for the fish.

So, B and I ran a new dedicated circuit for the refrigerator; ran a new, dedicated circuit with 4-GFCI protected outlets for the downstairs tank; and changed out a standard duplex receptacle making 4 GFCI protected outlets for the upstairs tank.

The hardest part about doing the electrical work was moving around in the crawl space. In a old house, there is not much room under it for two big guys.

BTW, B and K are doing great.

Hope all of you have been safe and healthy.

Same Time, Next year

It sounds like the Cubs, but we will get 'em next year. Congrats to the Beavers, but GO HEELS!

Hey Sis

This is for the NC/OSU rematch in the College Baseball World Series.

GO HEELS!

On the way home (Dial-Up Warning)

From Irwin, PA, K and I stopped at the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayette Station, WV. I have driven over it many times, but never stopped to look. K and I have also been under it whitewater rafting, but that was many years ago. This time, we stopped.

This is a bridge they close once per year for about 4-6 hours so that people having a higher level of insanity than me can base jump off, as it is about 1000 feet up from the river bed. On normal days, help vehicles are near-by in case you break down as they want no one on the bridge, to prevent other silly ideas.

A warning to my brother: if you look at the pictures, you will stare at the center of the bridge, and not at the edges, you might fall off.

Travels over the weekend

This weekend, K and I went on a road trip to Irwin, PA for a memorial service for Aunt L, a wonderful, dignified lady that was a great person to around. She was married to my mom's brother for 59 years before succumbing to cancer in the spring. There were 20 or so people in attendance, some from both sides of their family with K and I representing ours.

It was a time for remembering fun things we did, memories of family members now gone and share news of our lives as they happen in the place where we all say our family started. Uncle J, Aunt L, B, B and J had a great relationship inside their family and with my family and for that I am grateful.

Below are some pics:

My Uncle J

J, B and B
B and her family M and T

My cousin B, in a silly moment after having her picture taken many times.



I also want to thank my Aunt W for taking such great care of many of my family members grave sites. This one is from my sister and Great Aunt, however, my Mom's and other Aunt's look great as well.

Happy Father's Day, Dad

56k, no way. I found this video on youtube, it is 9+ minutes long and says much without saying too much. Anyway, Dad, Happy Father's Day, you taugh me much about being a Dad, thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-c_wgKAs-8

New Responsibilities

I have new job responsibilities. I will be responsible for the Municipal market in Georgia, Alabama and the Florida panhandle. It should be interesting as I have called it the "Dark Side" for many years. It was offered to me without opportunity to decline, if you know what I mean. This is an add-on with no responsibilities removed. We shall see.

With A home for

The summer, things around here are quite hectic. A has 3 jobs and is taking an Anatomy class at the local UNC campus.

A has her lifeguard job, she coaches the pool swim team (and gets paid for it) and works at a local relatively fast food restaurant called Cook-Out at night when the pool is closed. By at night, this is from 9PM or so until close. These folks close at 2AM Sunday through Wednesday and until 4AM on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. A gets home around 3AM on some days and around 5AM when she works the weekends.

When she is not working, she is studying or sleeping. The best part about this is she has very little time to get into too much trouble. She is either working, studying or sleeping.

I think that A is getting exposed to more of America than she expected. Cook-out is a drive through/walk-up only type restaurant with no indoor seating on a busy corner. She is the only person of her race working at this restaurant. She has seen: many people ordering at the drive through with guns in their laps, some pretty wicked fights in a parking lot across the street and even a gunshot or two from her perch at the restaurant. This restaurant is only about 3 miles from our home, yet a world away.

The place has a significant safety program in place for closers at 3/4/5 AM to prevent possible problems. All of the money goes into the safe that cannot be opened by any single person. Also, when it is time to leave, some of the people go to their cars while others remain in the building. Once safely in their cars, locked, cell phones in hand and started, the others then head for their cars.

It has been really interesting to hear the stories that A brings home, even at 5 AM. I told you the drama would increase, but you did not believe me.

Hope your week is a good one.

The New VW Passat

Just an update on a previous post, the Passat was taken for a 30 mile test drive last night. It drove very smoothly and without issues. Tomorrow comes a better test, a drive to Raleigh and back. I do not expect any issues.

Car Situation - C has wheels

While all of the previous post was happening, I was cruising the Internet on Sunday May 20, seeing what was out there for vehicles for C. I was looking on Craigslist, Cars.com and eBay.

On eBay, I found a 1999 VW Jetta Wolfsburg Edition, green in color, used by a college student that just graduated from Villanova near Philadelphia. He was selling it because he did not want the hassle of moving it to Las Vegas where he was moving to take a job. It had a couple of minor issues, but in general seemed OK. Needless to say, I won the auction. This is Sunday at about 2PM. I left my phone number and he called me at about 2:30PM.

He indicated that he was leaving Philly on Monday at 5PM. I told him that I would check into a few things and get back with him, but could he make arrangements to have a friend complete the transaction in a couple of days.

With gasoline prices as they are, it would take about $150 worth of gas to drive to Philly and back for the van, plus 16 hours of K and my time. I looked into flying, but thought on short notice, they were going to get me. I was wrong. Southwest had flights from Raleigh to Philly for $58 ($49 plus taxes), so I booked my flight. I also ordered the parts needed to fix the known issues. I called the seller, making arrangements to be met at the airport at 1:30PM the next day (Monday).

While my plane was a few minutes late, he met me at baggage claim and we drove off to the National Car Rental car return. His parents were in town for his graduation, and were returning their rental car. He, his parents and I completed the transaction in the parking lot of the National Car Rental. I left for home by 2:30PM and they took the shuttle to catch their planes.

I got home around 11PM, going down the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay on 301 to avoid the DC evening drive time. As I had not been down that way, it was a very scenic drive. My computer GPS guided me the whole way, more for knowing that I was going the right direction than actual directing.

As a potential interesting footnote, I found out that the guy I bought the car from was going to try to make it in the world of professional poker. When I Googled his name, he already has a reputation and has won a significant amount of money in only a few tournaments. He is going to do the WSOP for a year, then off to grad school for an MBA in Finance. I had no clue, nor really cared.

So we are now a 3 VW family. A and C drive Jettas and I drive a Passat. All with manual transmissions. We will NOT be trading in the van for a Microbus or Bug, thank you very much. Happy motoring.

Update on the car situation 2

This will be a rather boring post about our car travails. As many of you know, my Intrepid died at 329k miles. It had only one new transmission put into it, which was amazing for the Dodge product. Now, the rest of the story.

We were down to two cars with spring break a coming. Then the transmission went thump in the van and we were down to one. $1500 and a week later, we were back with two.

For many years, I have wanted to rebuild/replace an engine in a car. I thought it would be fun and stress relieving. Well, I was cruising eBay in mid-April and saw this car. It needed an engine and could be had for a decent price, so I purchased it.

The car, a 1999 VW Passat with a V6 engine, had the timing belt break, doing valve damage. I thought it would be a great learning experience to rebuild this engine. So I bought the how to repair book, and set about tearing into the engine. When viewing the engine heads, all of the exhaust valves were bent from contact with the pistons. One intake valve was visibly bent, but the others seemed fine.

I attempted to purchase used heads from an automotive recycler unsuccessfully, so the heads were taken to the local machine shop. $600 later, the heads were as good as new. The reassembly could begin.

Keep in mind that during this time, work had me travel to NY for a trade show for a full week and then give a tour of industrial and biopharm facilities for my Brazilian counterparts, again for another full week.

The reassembly went rather well once the heads were in my possession. Everything went back together extremely well. Along with the rebuilt heads, I put a new timing belt, water pump, thermostat, tensioner pulley, idler pulley, and upper control arm on the car. When the time came to fire up the car, it idled well. No check engine lights.

As K and I went for a test drive down our street, as the RPM got to 1400, the engine would buck, hesitate and in general raise havoc, the check engine light came on as well. The engine reached operating temperature fine and immediate turn back for home occurred.

I purchased a $22 cable and $100 software for my computer for doing diagnosis taking a couple of days while the materials arrived. Doing some analysis of the the trouble code using the Internet VW forums, it was determined that the throttle body electronic positioner was not communicating with the main engine computer.

I took out the offending part, cleaned it and re-installed it. Same problem. Did it again, slightly better, but same problem. After several posts on the VW forum (both VWVortex and PassatWorld) someone suggested a different cleaning method, but that I was definitely on the correct part.

So I tried their method and... no improvement. I ordered a new Throttle Body with sensor (that is the only way they come) and began the wait for it to arrive. While waiting, the old throttle body and sensor were disassembled by me as I had nothing left to loose. If I broke it or was unable to fix it, the new one would be there in a day or two. If I fixed it, then I could return the new part for a small restocking fee. I completely disassembled the position sensor, cleaned it with electrical contact cleaner, throttle body cleaner and used a can of computer compressed air to blow out any residue. The part was left to dry completely overnight.

The next day, as the old part was being installed, the new part arrived. I finished installing the completely cleaned old part and checked through my computer that the part was "visible" to the engine computer. It was, so the existing "Check Engine Light" codes were cleared and the engine was tested. It met with initial success in the carport, but would it stand up to being driven.

So K and I went on a short, 3-mile, test drive and the car drove wonderfully. No problems. Later today we will get license plates and insurance for the car so it can be street legal. The next step will be to do a 15-20 mile test drive just to make sure before I go gallivanting around the countryside using this as my daily driver.

The Tradewinds, they are a blowin'

As we were puttering around the house on Sunday evening, we got a call from some relatives that were in a neighboring city. AW and UJ were in Raleigh for a wedding of a grand-niece or nephew and wanted to come by to visit on Monday. We were happy to see them, come on by!

As always, it is good to see them as we enjoy lively conversation regarding all topics, past, future and current. We relived many of my childhood escapades for my daughters, and shared some escapades by siblings that were least embarrassing. We had a great time.

They are off to see the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC before winding their way back home to PA.

Thanks for stopping by, travel safe.

Cuz, It was great to see ya

I popped in to see my DC burb cousin MEH yesterday. Although she was not feeling well, it was great to see her, her husband and their children. I was going to take a picture or two, but because ME was not feeling well, the camera was not used.

K and Sh had to go to to a school ensemble concert, so I did not see much of them early, but I stayed long enough to get some conversation afterward.

We discussed much, solved many of the world's problems and in general enjoyed the company. Thanks ME and K for the delightful evening.

Wow, It is May the 8th

Much has occurred over the past 2 weeks. I will try to cover it in as few words as possible.

1) Interphex was Interphex. As all trade shows are being attended less, so it was with Interphex. There were abour 30% fewer people there this year than last. Tuesday and Wednesday were ok from a people walking by standpoint, but Thursday was very slow. Fortunately for me, my company had a couple of new people with us at the show and asked me to take them around to some of the show to explain how our equipment works in systems. That part was fun.

2) I want to thank my boss for the cold he shared with everyone at Interphex. I have the left over sinus congestion but am otherwise back.

3) Last week, it was my responsibility to help show some of my Brazilian counterparts equipment in operation. This took the entire week and was a drain on my productive time. It did however help the Brazilian guys, even though there was a slight communication barrier. We went to paper mills, textile plants, chemical plants and Biopharm facilities. I think I gave them my cold.

4) A is home for the summer, so the drama has increased. She has been here only one day, yet there are conflicts between A and C. Nothing earth shattering, but C was the primary focus and now has to share the spotlight.

5) Item 4 above has created another issue. Since my Intrepid died, we have been making due with 2 cars. Now with 4 drivers, there will be more challenges. I am seeking a new vehicle. It does not, however, make sense to have 4 vehicles with 4 drivers when one of them will be away at school and cannot take a car with them (does it C?). We will only be inconvenienced during the summer months.

6) C's room is now 90% complete. There are some details that need to be completed (like widow coverings), but the paint is done and the closet shelving has been installed. Pictures will come later this week. Think Robbins Egg Blue with white trim.

More soon...