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torquillI hooked up the gas tank to the Alfa today (all but the fill tube and cap, anyway)... There had been a bad weld on the vapor return line, but some J-B Weld took care of that handily. I reconnected the vapor recovery tank, strapped it in place, and reinstalled the fuel-indicator dingus -- it's still kind of erratic, but we're hoping that some normal use and a little gasoline may help remove the crud preventing the contacts from working normally. The indicators are damned hard to get, and we don't have a working spare.
Once all that was done (and a fuel line replaced) I was able to put air in the tires, jack it down, and roll it out. Or that was the idea.
When I let it down, one back tire said nasty things and went flat. Sigh. Jack it up, change it out, let it down, roll it out, Rawhide!
...Except that it wouldn't roll. We hauled on it. I made sure it was in neutral and the brake was off. We hauled on it again. Nothing. The back tires wouldn't rotate even when jacked up, so something was frozen up, probably the brakes.
So my dad brought out the tow lines, I looped them around the axles, we hooked the whole mess up to the truck and dragged it out of the shed. Not particularly dignified, but there you are. Somewhere along the line the brake pads broke free of the discs in back and the wheels began to roll, so we could push it the rest of the way into position ourselves. Hurray.
It's parked next to the Camry now, in all its cobwebby, dust-caked glory. I'll give it a scrub tomorrow after I go to the Plant Clinic; I promised I'd wash Gwen too, so my car will finally be clean. We need to reconnect the fill hose and cap, put the antenna back on, buy a battery and modify the battery box a little, and try to turn it all on.
It quite likely won't, of course. Or it may start, and be lacking some electrical features that used to work and don't anymore. Stuff will need oiling, the tires (except the spare) may need to be replaced totally, and I need to fashion at least a slipcover for the driver's seat -- but it's out in the open air, and we've made tremendous progress. Very exciting.
I'm not reacting as badly to the chemicals involved as I thought I would -- I got a fine spray of bad gas on my face today (thank you, fuel return line) and I've been using WD-40 to ease hoses on (have I mentioned how much I hate replacing hoses?) and coax reluctant screws to turn, but I haven't felt any significant ill effects from any of it. Hydrocarbons aren't my primary weakness, but WD-40 in particular used to make me quite woozy; it seems I can handle it now. I won't go so far as to test whether I can deal with Bond-O... the smell takes me back to my childhood, but those solvents are a great deal nastier than WD-40.
All of that accomplished, I went out to pick beans (I'd forgotten how prolific and quick P. sesquipedialia is once it gets going) and finally tend to the tomatoes. They need to be picked, fed, tied up again, and have the dead leaves from mites removed... I should see about buying some Bt, as well, since whatever the leaf-rolling caterpillar is that's eating them, it's starting to get out of control. I didn't finish tying them up, but I should be able to do that tomorrow, maybe feed them, and hopefully pick them. The cukes are still faithfully cranking out larger and larger cucumbers, despite mite damage; the squash and melons are rolling along. All in all, a little neglect hasn't hurt things -- I do try to set things up that way, knowing that at some point I won't go out there for a week or more.
I haven't gotten a chance to clean the house (I get sleepy whenever I start considering it), but I am starting to pull everything back into line. I'm still writing a decent amount, but hopefully it won't be consuming whole days.
I'm starting to really get nervous about school, what with the dreams and seeing everyone else back at it. The worst part is that I still have four weeks to bite my nails. It's an open question whether it would be worse to be a freshman, not knowing what to expect, rather than the college veterean I am, who knows exactly how many things have to be juggled, and how bad (or good) the teachers and class load might be. I think it's the class load and the commute which are scaring me the worst right now.
The dreams are about being up there during move-in week, dealing with last-minute details, and the question in my mind is always, "Am I ready for this?" When I went to Santa Cruz, I was not. It's been ten years since then... am I ready now?
If it seems like I'm burying my head in work, now you know why. At least I'll have something to show for the last few days -- the Alfa, twenty jars of peaches, and a somewhat more orderly garden.
Once all that was done (and a fuel line replaced) I was able to put air in the tires, jack it down, and roll it out. Or that was the idea.
When I let it down, one back tire said nasty things and went flat. Sigh. Jack it up, change it out, let it down, roll it out, Rawhide!
...Except that it wouldn't roll. We hauled on it. I made sure it was in neutral and the brake was off. We hauled on it again. Nothing. The back tires wouldn't rotate even when jacked up, so something was frozen up, probably the brakes.
So my dad brought out the tow lines, I looped them around the axles, we hooked the whole mess up to the truck and dragged it out of the shed. Not particularly dignified, but there you are. Somewhere along the line the brake pads broke free of the discs in back and the wheels began to roll, so we could push it the rest of the way into position ourselves. Hurray.
It's parked next to the Camry now, in all its cobwebby, dust-caked glory. I'll give it a scrub tomorrow after I go to the Plant Clinic; I promised I'd wash Gwen too, so my car will finally be clean. We need to reconnect the fill hose and cap, put the antenna back on, buy a battery and modify the battery box a little, and try to turn it all on.
It quite likely won't, of course. Or it may start, and be lacking some electrical features that used to work and don't anymore. Stuff will need oiling, the tires (except the spare) may need to be replaced totally, and I need to fashion at least a slipcover for the driver's seat -- but it's out in the open air, and we've made tremendous progress. Very exciting.
I'm not reacting as badly to the chemicals involved as I thought I would -- I got a fine spray of bad gas on my face today (thank you, fuel return line) and I've been using WD-40 to ease hoses on (have I mentioned how much I hate replacing hoses?) and coax reluctant screws to turn, but I haven't felt any significant ill effects from any of it. Hydrocarbons aren't my primary weakness, but WD-40 in particular used to make me quite woozy; it seems I can handle it now. I won't go so far as to test whether I can deal with Bond-O... the smell takes me back to my childhood, but those solvents are a great deal nastier than WD-40.
All of that accomplished, I went out to pick beans (I'd forgotten how prolific and quick P. sesquipedialia is once it gets going) and finally tend to the tomatoes. They need to be picked, fed, tied up again, and have the dead leaves from mites removed... I should see about buying some Bt, as well, since whatever the leaf-rolling caterpillar is that's eating them, it's starting to get out of control. I didn't finish tying them up, but I should be able to do that tomorrow, maybe feed them, and hopefully pick them. The cukes are still faithfully cranking out larger and larger cucumbers, despite mite damage; the squash and melons are rolling along. All in all, a little neglect hasn't hurt things -- I do try to set things up that way, knowing that at some point I won't go out there for a week or more.
I haven't gotten a chance to clean the house (I get sleepy whenever I start considering it), but I am starting to pull everything back into line. I'm still writing a decent amount, but hopefully it won't be consuming whole days.
I'm starting to really get nervous about school, what with the dreams and seeing everyone else back at it. The worst part is that I still have four weeks to bite my nails. It's an open question whether it would be worse to be a freshman, not knowing what to expect, rather than the college veterean I am, who knows exactly how many things have to be juggled, and how bad (or good) the teachers and class load might be. I think it's the class load and the commute which are scaring me the worst right now.
The dreams are about being up there during move-in week, dealing with last-minute details, and the question in my mind is always, "Am I ready for this?" When I went to Santa Cruz, I was not. It's been ten years since then... am I ready now?
If it seems like I'm burying my head in work, now you know why. At least I'll have something to show for the last few days -- the Alfa, twenty jars of peaches, and a somewhat more orderly garden.
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no subject
Date: 2006-09-02 06:33 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-02 07:35 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-02 07:10 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-09-02 07:44 (UTC)If you still need my phone number, drop me a comment, or ask Kathy. :)
I'm for bed.
no subject
Date: 2006-09-02 08:35 (UTC)