Well,....Now that my thread is purged of any evil apparitions,....I guess I'll tell you what's been happening these last several days.
I've started looking into some form of "Blog". Obviously my participation here is all over the place, and alot of times what I have to say doesn't fit very well into the confines of a car guy forum for fox body cars. Not that I don't think that I have a place here,..I don't want to lose the "build thread" aspect for the car. I'm just looking for a more general forum that would be of interest when I've got non- car related, or non-fox related junk to say. (Like the rest of this update)
So,..there's that.
Last weekend we bought a new house. As in,..there's flat ground there presently. The current house has outlived it's appeal. We moved here for the school system,..(which we are exactly 1-3 miles away from the elementary, middle, freshman center and high schools.) Now the same reason to move here has become a giant pain in my ass. Every morning, if you aren't gone by 6:58,...You are trapped behind a mile of traffic trying to get out of this neighborhood,..with everybody else trying to get to school or work. This house was built in 1984,..and has a buttload of trees, a big giant sloping lot,...and I'm tired.
Of fighting that traffic,..of mowing, of freakin raking leaves of having to choose which "chain restaurant I want to eat in with the rest of all of the screaming ass kids
So we're sellin this btch. Given we live in the shadow of one of the best school systems in the entire SE US...(The same HS that MTV brought you " Two-a-Days") is the main appeal. The last couple of weeks, I've been picking a project that I've been ignoring for years and finishing it. Last weekend the upstairs bathroom. Next weekend,...Pfft?
On Sunday,..I sat for 3 hours on a runway. BMW sends me to the new unveiling of the new 5 series, taking place in Austin TX.. Very big affair. I was one of the first "waves" of about 125 selected people that they'll bring in for this event. They rented the COTA in Austin (Circuit of the Americas) a Formula 1 spec track, manned it w/ BWM corporate trainers, hired 4 pro drivers (all retired) i.e.... Roberto Guerrero, Michael Andretti,...the others I can't remember,...trailered in 65 brand new 65,000 cars (read,...less than 15 mi. each)............and we just beat the living sht outta them. With no special tires, no "track tune", not even as much as a drop in air pressure,..these poor cars were hot lapped as hard as they could be driven by the pro's, and then by each of us for the entire day. The pro's were merciless,...the rest of us,...not so much. Each one of us got a "ride w/ the pro" at full blast. Not one failure.
The fail was at the hands of United Airlines out of Houston. A "computer glitch" grounded the entire domestic fleet,..for three hours. What was supposed to be a tiny little 35 minute flight, turned into a 4 hour nightmare. That, in turn puts me in a town reputed for having a great music sector, and great food, at 10:30 PM....When it was supposed to be 6:30. Was I pssed?
The fun doesn't stop there. My return flight was scheduled at the end of the day. Flying back on Delta this time on a two leg flight that flies to Atlanta, with a connection that takes me back to Birmingham. Only problem is I have to sit and wait for that connection. How longs is the wait do ya spose?......3 hours.
I get to the Austin airport at 3:50, there is a flight that was supposed to leave at 4:55, but because of high winds in Atl., it has been pushed back to 6:15. I ask the ticket lady if there is a connection out of Atlanta earlier than the 11:58PM flight I was currently marooned on,..and she confirmed that there was. Departs at 9:40 PM. "If this flight doesn't get pushed back any further, and if every body gets on the plane so we can push off at our scheduled departure, the plane should pull up to the gate at 9:30"
"Will they hold that plane, if I have to run through the concourse?" I ask. She says that because of all of the re-scheduling,..they may do that... They may.
I risk it. I take the even earlier flight.
And then the Tijuana taxi loads it's passengers.
The average plane loading experience has "eroded" to just north of a Mumbai bus ride. All these people dressed in something less formal than their pajama's, all trying to jam their god damned carry-on into a space that it won't fit,..Each taking a stupid amount of time to just get on the damn plane and sit the fck down.
Carry on bags should be restricted to what "fits by your feet" and the overhead compartments should be sealed. For the sake of individual convenience, the entire system is corrupted. Check your damn bags.
By the time the plane was loaded it was already 6:30 and after sitting in a long ass line on the tarmac, by the time it was wheels up, it was 7:00.
And we had a 1 hour and 36 minute flight to Atlanta.
Ain't no way I was gonna make it.
When we land, and are taxiing to the gate the attendant gets on the PA and tells the rest of the TJ taxi riders that there were several passengers on board w/ less that 15 minutes to make a connection, and to please allow those few to move up the aisle first when the plane de-boards.
Did that happen?
Nope,...not at first. Not until this determined, small stature female oompah-loompah decided that she was going to make her damn connection, and no rude assed, inconsiderate, pajama wearin' Atlanta residents were gonna get in her way. So,...considering that she was creating one hell of a wake,..I just slipped in behind her and let her plow that path clear right through the middle of the PJ mob.
I'm off the plane in minutes,..I check the monitor,..the 9:40 flight is 18 gates away. It's 9:35.
I'm ruunnin'
I make it just as they are closing the jetway door. They open it and let me pass. I'm gonna be home in 35 minutes.
So,..That brings you up to even. The Monster is in the same dash-less state he was last time,..I haven't done anything more than say hello to him. I need to drive him in the dark...and see if I can get the switch short to re-occur. If it does, I'm ditching the switch in favor of a couples of rockers. After that,..it's just the details.
I've started looking into some form of "Blog". Obviously my participation here is all over the place, and alot of times what I have to say doesn't fit very well into the confines of a car guy forum for fox body cars. Not that I don't think that I have a place here,..I don't want to lose the "build thread" aspect for the car. I'm just looking for a more general forum that would be of interest when I've got non- car related, or non-fox related junk to say. (Like the rest of this update)
So,..there's that.
Last weekend we bought a new house. As in,..there's flat ground there presently. The current house has outlived it's appeal. We moved here for the school system,..(which we are exactly 1-3 miles away from the elementary, middle, freshman center and high schools.) Now the same reason to move here has become a giant pain in my ass. Every morning, if you aren't gone by 6:58,...You are trapped behind a mile of traffic trying to get out of this neighborhood,..with everybody else trying to get to school or work. This house was built in 1984,..and has a buttload of trees, a big giant sloping lot,...and I'm tired.
Of fighting that traffic,..of mowing, of freakin raking leaves of having to choose which "chain restaurant I want to eat in with the rest of all of the screaming ass kids
So we're sellin this btch. Given we live in the shadow of one of the best school systems in the entire SE US...(The same HS that MTV brought you " Two-a-Days") is the main appeal. The last couple of weeks, I've been picking a project that I've been ignoring for years and finishing it. Last weekend the upstairs bathroom. Next weekend,...Pfft?
On Sunday,..I sat for 3 hours on a runway. BMW sends me to the new unveiling of the new 5 series, taking place in Austin TX.. Very big affair. I was one of the first "waves" of about 125 selected people that they'll bring in for this event. They rented the COTA in Austin (Circuit of the Americas) a Formula 1 spec track, manned it w/ BWM corporate trainers, hired 4 pro drivers (all retired) i.e.... Roberto Guerrero, Michael Andretti,...the others I can't remember,...trailered in 65 brand new 65,000 cars (read,...less than 15 mi. each)............and we just beat the living sht outta them. With no special tires, no "track tune", not even as much as a drop in air pressure,..these poor cars were hot lapped as hard as they could be driven by the pro's, and then by each of us for the entire day. The pro's were merciless,...the rest of us,...not so much. Each one of us got a "ride w/ the pro" at full blast. Not one failure.
The fail was at the hands of United Airlines out of Houston. A "computer glitch" grounded the entire domestic fleet,..for three hours. What was supposed to be a tiny little 35 minute flight, turned into a 4 hour nightmare. That, in turn puts me in a town reputed for having a great music sector, and great food, at 10:30 PM....When it was supposed to be 6:30. Was I pssed?
The fun doesn't stop there. My return flight was scheduled at the end of the day. Flying back on Delta this time on a two leg flight that flies to Atlanta, with a connection that takes me back to Birmingham. Only problem is I have to sit and wait for that connection. How longs is the wait do ya spose?......3 hours.
I get to the Austin airport at 3:50, there is a flight that was supposed to leave at 4:55, but because of high winds in Atl., it has been pushed back to 6:15. I ask the ticket lady if there is a connection out of Atlanta earlier than the 11:58PM flight I was currently marooned on,..and she confirmed that there was. Departs at 9:40 PM. "If this flight doesn't get pushed back any further, and if every body gets on the plane so we can push off at our scheduled departure, the plane should pull up to the gate at 9:30"
"Will they hold that plane, if I have to run through the concourse?" I ask. She says that because of all of the re-scheduling,..they may do that... They may.
I risk it. I take the even earlier flight.
And then the Tijuana taxi loads it's passengers.
The average plane loading experience has "eroded" to just north of a Mumbai bus ride. All these people dressed in something less formal than their pajama's, all trying to jam their god damned carry-on into a space that it won't fit,..Each taking a stupid amount of time to just get on the damn plane and sit the fck down.
Carry on bags should be restricted to what "fits by your feet" and the overhead compartments should be sealed. For the sake of individual convenience, the entire system is corrupted. Check your damn bags.
By the time the plane was loaded it was already 6:30 and after sitting in a long ass line on the tarmac, by the time it was wheels up, it was 7:00.
And we had a 1 hour and 36 minute flight to Atlanta.
Ain't no way I was gonna make it.
When we land, and are taxiing to the gate the attendant gets on the PA and tells the rest of the TJ taxi riders that there were several passengers on board w/ less that 15 minutes to make a connection, and to please allow those few to move up the aisle first when the plane de-boards.
Did that happen?
Nope,...not at first. Not until this determined, small stature female oompah-loompah decided that she was going to make her damn connection, and no rude assed, inconsiderate, pajama wearin' Atlanta residents were gonna get in her way. So,...considering that she was creating one hell of a wake,..I just slipped in behind her and let her plow that path clear right through the middle of the PJ mob.
I'm off the plane in minutes,..I check the monitor,..the 9:40 flight is 18 gates away. It's 9:35.
I'm ruunnin'
I make it just as they are closing the jetway door. They open it and let me pass. I'm gonna be home in 35 minutes.
So,..That brings you up to even. The Monster is in the same dash-less state he was last time,..I haven't done anything more than say hello to him. I need to drive him in the dark...and see if I can get the switch short to re-occur. If it does, I'm ditching the switch in favor of a couples of rockers. After that,..it's just the details.
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