Monday, June 16, 2008

Monday Jeep Update

My "Saturday = Jeep day" turned into a "Saturday = Lawn and Jeep day". After mowing the lawn and all that jazz, I turned my attentions to good old Olive. I started by trying to follow the electrical lines through the car to see if there were any discontinuities. After seeing no obvious gaps, I tried to turn her over again. Same result. The next plan - wait for Papa Flick to show up with a voltmeter to figure out where the problem sits. The problem with that plan - Papa Flick could not make it over. So the day was spent doing more cleanup of both the Jeep and the garage. I do think I might know what the problem might be. I found out this weekend that the solenoid on the Jeeps are a pretty finicky part. They tend to go out fairly regularly, so I may just have to replace that for the electricity to get to the starter. Determining if that is the problem, for now, is my next step to getting that baby fired up.

On Saturday, I did end up getting underneath the passenger seat enough to remove it. I also cleaned the storage bin under the passenger seat and gained access to the side step bolts in that bin. I got all but one of the bolts off on each of the side steps - the ones I removed were all hex head bolts. However, the two remaining bolts have a regular screw head on them. Add the rust factor and you have a strip/no torque situation. After struggling with that for a while, I decided that maybe cutting the bolts off might be the easier method. It is really too bad I did not go get that angle grinder when Robert found those on sale. Also a possibility - breaking the nuts off the bottom of the bolt. Either way, I need to buy a new tool. Dang!

This week is going to be fairly hectic as we have a lot of stuff going on (softball game tonight, Rockies tomorrow, Sarah has a haircut on Wednesday, we are doing a Sam's Club trip with Mama Flick on Thursday, a work BBQ after work on Friday, the dogs are getting groomed on Saturday, Kourtney comes in on Saturday afternoon, picnic at my parent's house on Saturday evening, leave Sunday morning for Mexico). Somewhere in there, I have to pack for a week on the beach. Based on that schedule, I don't think there will be much work done on the Jeep in the next couple weeks. Good news is that July is pretty open, so I will most likely be elbows deep in grease for that month.

I love being able to take my time on a project like this. I don't need the car on a daily basis (or ever, really), so I can get things done when I have time. And having the Jeep in the garage means anytime I get bored or need something to do, I have something waiting for me!

Friday, June 13, 2008

Friday Brain Farts

  • At Tuesday's Rockies/Giants game, Taveras is on 3rd with 2 outs. Helton hits a ground ball on the right side. Travis Denker makes a great diving stop in the hole, flips the ball to the Aurilia at first, end of inning. Some moron behind me says, "at least Taveras scored." I wanted to punch him in the face.
  • Speaking of the Rockies/Giants game - it was nice to actually see them win a game that we were at (that was not played against the Twins).
  • After not meeting Jon and Holly for dinner for some time, Jon has convinced us to head to Jim 'N Nick's BBQ for dinner tonight. The fat kid in me is really, really excited.
  • Yesterday, the transportation group at my work went to Elitch Lanes at 38th and Tennyson for the afternoon. I think these type of things should be mandatory in the workplace. There is a renewed energy, a greater sense of camaraderie, and a better overall work environment in the office today.
  • Plus, Elitch Lanes has some sweet bowling deals Monday through Thursday.
  • I got a new battery for Olive. I added some fluids. I turned the key. And I heard absolutely nothing. That means that Saturday = Jeep day.
  • Slowly but surely, all my friends that have a Wii are getting Mario Kart. Online play with your friends is about as fun as it gets. Next step - dominate Sarah/Robert/Natalie/Jorge/Katie/Short/Josh/all-of-the-above in one fell swoop. If you have Mario Kart, shoot me your Friend Code. I will gladly dominate you, too.
  • Agent Jamie of the BP was in town last week. It was nice to see him and hang out with the college crew a bit over the weekend. Tuxedo t-shirt!
  • We (meaning whole Flick crew) spent a day last weekend in Breckenridge. Anna and David will especially enjoy some of the pictures. Seems like just yesterday Davey was wearing a toilet/poop hat and Anna and I were planning our lives after high school at Colorado Mountain College!
  • I wish the NBA Finals would wrap up so I don't have to see all the articles in the papers and on the sports websites. The NBA is lame.
  • Mexico is right around the corner. I cannot wait!
  • Finally, the Friday Links will be up on the Cru Jones Society website sometime today. Make sure you check it out. I'm getting paid big money to mention their website (although I am still waiting for my first check. . .)
'Til the next post,
Mikey