I'm still around

I have neglected my blog, and so it's time to correct it. Today, at work, the owner's son, Brook, (herenafter referred to as "sonnyboy" came up to me and announced that effective immediately stainless would be separated from mild steel in the scrap bin, this to keep the scrap pure and get more money from the scrap dealers. Then he went on to say that I should get ahold of him to find out which is stainless and which is mild steel. I said, "OK" and bit my tongue.

So now, here I am, a 48 year old man with an associates degree, 2, actually, and one is in industrial welding (Associate in Applied Science) and I have to go ask a 25 year old kid to differentiate between mild steel and stainless.

In other news, I got one of the headers beadblasted and partially painted as well as the steering arm for the passenger side of Old Red. I left a door access panel, a passenger side backing plate, a wheel ring, a passenger side fender and the front bumper at the sandblasters .

Ole Dave's at it again

Time was about 6:05. Place was the front office area. I had just emptied the trash and was getting ready to vacuum the front office. Dave came in and said,"If you moved any slower, I would swear you were standing still", or words to that effect. Present at the time was Jamie, the truck driver, and Brook, the Owner's son. I can think of no other reason for harassing me in front of coworkers, other than to humiliate and debase me. It is strange that at my other job, they don't complain at all, or rarely, and pay better. Let this incident be another for the record to show a consistent pattern of harassment and a hostile work environment.

Sunday

Today, mostly I went to see my daughter and her husband and go to grandson Wyatt's birthday party. My Dad gave him an electric guitar. I gave him the bb gun I got for my 10th birthday. I am confident that Kelly will teach both grandsons safe firearms handling and hunter safety, and so will begin another generation of responsible firearms ownership.

I am started on a camper shell for my truck. This one was actually made for a '54 Chevy but can be adapted to the AD trucks. The original was all steel and heavy as could be. I hope to lighten it and convert to a clamshell type opening system.

On with life

Sure am enjoying the weekend and the time away from those obnoxious SOB's at work, especially dave & Steve who, when they get together make Beavis & Butthead look like college professors. I helped my daughter pack yesterday, and we went to lunch at Hooters. I was alittle disappointed, but the waitresses were nice. I'll probably never go again, but I've been there. My advice would be to improve the menu. And lose the illegals who were working as bus people.

Friday at last

I made it through another week without getting into trouble, deserved or otherwise. This is starting to turn into a blog about work and I want it to be so much more than that. I will post today "thing" just to have it on record. I'm suprprised no ambulance chasing lawyer has tried to get ahold of me. Along about 2:10 today, 20 minutes before I was to get off work, the foreman told me Steve had left something for me on the timeclock. I got to the timeclock and it was a cartoon photocopied out of a magazine. It was a group of dogs, sort of like an AA meeting. One dog was at the podium and the other dogs were clapping. The name had been whited out and my name inserted so the caption read, "my name is Jim and it's been 30 days since I licked my balls"

I just left it up. Jack was dealing with a family emergency and wasn't there; the foreman was in charge.

Tuesday's ramblings

Today was a typical day. The foreman (remember him?) farted on a red shop rag and threw it in my face. Everyone thought that was pretty funny. I guess it always is as long as it's not at your expense. Had I made a stand, it would have been me that was in the wrong. How long must one be the passive victim before the case for justifiable homicide kicks in? Some people only live because it's illegal to kill them. Anyway, let this be entered into the record in case some day I need to prove harassment. Incident ocurred about 6:45 am this day.

It only reinforces my determination to go back out west and see the MO state line in my rear view mirror for the last time. If this is the callibre of people you can expect to find in this godforsaken state, then FUCK YOU MISSOURI and the fucking missouri mule you rode in on. Nevada is a superior state.

I got my coil and crankcase ventilator degreased and hope to get a shot of paint on both later tonight when I arise to do my other gig. What matters is I did make improvement on Ole Red and did not let a day go by without doing so. I won an ebay auction http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290036134131 and this item will go on the rear license part of Ole Red so that all may see my true loyalty. Now if I can just get vanity plates.............HDN4NV

The blog continues

Today was a good day at work. I worked hard, stayed out of trouble, got dirty, and got some improvements on Ole Red. Also, on Ole Blue. I got the crank case ventilator soaking in solvent on Ole Red and the brake pedal mechanisms in resto on Ole Blue. Also got some bolts painted and ready to go in their place when the paint is dry and found a coil in my pile to use. I've not heard anything about my Dad, although I'm pretty sure what he's up to is nothing more than suicide by withholding of medical care, but it's out of my hands. It is awful strange that Uncle Jesse and Aunt Lou made it down this way all of a sudden. Uncle Jesse has never come down to MO. Aunt Lou did when I was 12 in 1970. It was great to see them again, but the timing........hmmmmmm...............There is something I'm not being told me thinks. All I can do is be the good son and go according to the wishes. It's a respect thing. Two daughters, and time in the USMC......yeah, I know how to let go.

Our boys in black are at it again.

I heard another story about our friends who like to call themselves the "good guys" http://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/articlelive/articles/36017/1. Needless to say, I am no fan of the cops and I may as well use my blog to expose their doings.

Back to my blog

I haven't kept up on my blog lately. My Dad's been sick and is going to continue to be sick. I did get the lifters and rocker arms on Old Red's engine. It looks like Old Red is going to need king pins, so I may as well take care of it while the fenders are off and the engine out. Ivana is back. The joker who traded the Suzuki dirt bike and the John Deere 300 tractor came and traded back, but let me keep the Suzuki. I'd rather have a sister in a whore house than a brother on a rice burner. So I keep it in the garage as a badge of shame. At work I have been running a press. They hired a regular press operator today. He starts out at .50 an hour more than I make for doing the same work. I ran the press all last week because the regular guy got himself dismissed. I did the job for less and instead of getting promoted to that job they hire another guy and I get to go back to being the janitor? They're so fucking good to me I could shit.

Anastasia blog

With the engine locked up, it was time to turn some attention to Anastasia. I had been dreading pulling the jugs, because I didn't want to unhook my sidecar. Turns out all you have to do is unhook the two top mounts and lean the bike over. I Pulled the heads and jugs on both sides and also both pistons. The right side piston was stubborn, but I used a little liquid "pretty please" in the trusty spray can and after a set, they came out, although I had to tap a little harder than I would have liked. Left side jug was clean and OK, Right side jug was rusty and stuck, and since it never has run, I'll send both somewhere for machining. I think I'll try my hand at porting and polishing on the head while the jugs are down.

The right side jug smelled of varnish and the needle on the carb was red and crusty. I noticed some corrosion on the head on the right side. My guess is the carby has issues. I seem to remember one leaked. Also, the bottom ring was broken on the right side,, so I'll have to come up with a new set of rings. I'll have to remove and clean out the sump, among other things before I attempt a start, as I suspect the remaining ring pieces are there. For now I need a place to send my jugs and pistons to get the machine work done.

Continuation on Old Red

I got out the impact wrench and tried to loosen the wheel bolts. Nothing. Guess I'll have to get one of those great big 4 way wrenches. With the head on and the engine coming along, it was time to turn some attention to the engine compartment. It looks like I'm going to need a new right inner fender, and a new front crossmember wouldn't hurt. Left front bumper bracket is broken and looks twisted, so I guess I'll start looking for a new one of those. Didn't work too long on red, but here is how it looked when I got done.

Labor day blog

Today was a great day. I got up when I took a notion, around 8:30 or so. Red, Anastasia, Blue and John Deere tractor were waiting for me. This is how red looked this morning

Sunday blog

Got the head on the engine, started the John Deere tractor, and the Dnepr (Anastasia) now has a stuck engine. Shit!!! Nothing I can't handle, but it is another iron in the fire. I went to Grandson Chase's birthday party. Lots of Son in law Kelly's family there, lots of friends, and we had taco salad and ice cream and cake. It seems the war is over, and now Eldest daughter Wanda and my mother are at odds. I will stay out of it. Tendonitis in my arm seems to be getting worse

Wed and the hump is passed

Still having tendon problems in my arm. I stopped by the Doctor on the way home and got my wife some different medicine, hopefully this won't make her sick. I don't know if it's depression or I'm just tired, but I'm going to bed. There I can tune out the world. No definite plans for the weekend, but I do want to pull the front fenders and grille off Old Red. That, and strip the dash for repainting and the headliner. That will be bad, have to wear a mask and have instant access to the shower, as mice have been up there. Now's the time to get it done, before the engine goes back in.

Monday's blog

The stupid kid is still giving us the old silent treatment. I'm caring. Or maybe not. Really a stupid reaction. If there is a disagreement or a conflict the way to resolve it is to communicate, not to cut off all communication. I raised a moron. I got the flywheel torqued and the clutch and pressure plate loosely in plate. Hit the timing mark with white nail polish so it would be easy to see. Need some new motor mount bolts and it will be time to flip the engine and prepare the mating head surfaces. I hope I can blog this tomorrow, as well as that we worked out a compromise with my mule headed oldest daughter. I think I might go to a class reunion. It's an all class thing at Bethany Saturday 9-2. Don't know. There are two people, upper classmen at the time, that I've made a vow to the moon and stars I will kill on the spot if I ever see again. Something happened in the locker room in the spring of my 8th grade year during track season. Something that made me drop track. I've never forgotten, and I have never forgiven. Hell, I don't want to see those SOB's, not a one of them.

Another week gone by

Such a hectic week it was I didn't have time to blog. Every day I had to make stops after work, taking my wife to Doctor, picking up applications, leaving off applications. Some rough looking biker type stopped by the house and was in back as i was driving up and had his eye on Ivana. Wanted to trade for a Suzuki dirt bike and a John Deere 300 tractor. So I did. Anastasia is a better bike but no one wants her because of the toaster tank and the headlight is less stylish. Anyway, I made it through the week without getting my ass in trouble over some stupid chickenshit. Went to St. Joseph today and when I got back my oldest daughter and my wife got into some stupid argument about where I will be and what time. Now when I go and try to call and straighten things out, the little numbnuts won't answer the phone. Now the ole lady's mad at me, as if it were my fault for having a mind and a will of my own. Now, needless to say, I'm going to go through another night of celibacy, or molest the shop vac one. Shit!!!Time to get out the rum and coke and put on a proper waste. Kids are a pain in the ass even after they grow up.

Monday and all is well

Got to work this morning. Noticed when I vacuumed the office, that there was a weed eater. gas, string, oil leaning against the wall and a receipt on the desk for purchase of same. So around 7:30 I found out what all this was for. Not a bad day, really. Ran the weed eater for 6 1/2 hours in the sun. The worst part was my watch quit me and just after my wife bought me a new watch band. Really, it was a peaceful day. No one coming to mess witcha, just do your work and go home. Of course I rinsed the weed eater off at the end of the day to show the proper respect for Jack and put everything away nice.

The band in the mystery photo? Condition Green. They were a Filipino band playing in Okinawa at the Prince Club in Henoko, and later in Koza city. I have often wondered what became of them. They were great!

Sunday's doings

I didn't get much done on Old Red. Painted the bell housing, and a few things. So today I'll post my mystery photo and let's see who can guess what this is. Hint: You would have to have been overseas in 1977-78 to recognize this.

Bacl to Old Red

Today I got alittle bit done on Old red. I got all the pal nuts on the connecting rods, lubed the lobes on the camshaft, replaced the timing cover bolts that go uder the oil pan and put a tab washer on there. Then I replaced the pan gasket and tightened everything down. I painted and primed alittle bit. Tomorrow I will get another can of paint and attach the bell housing. I will clean up the flywheel and mark it so the timing mark stands out. These are tomorrow's goals. It is good to have a goal for the following day. Kind of makes you look forward to tomorrow. I may even mow if it don't rain.

Alittle more about David Crowe, my harasser

Dave took a week or so of vacation in July to go camping. The first day back at the lunch room, he was bragging about how one of his boys could pee for some distance, almost 30 feet. The exact figure escapes me now, but he personally measured it and could attest to its accuracy.

I took July 20 and 21 off for a couple of vacations so I could spend time with some of my family from out west. When I came back, I was sitting in the lunch room at lunch time. There were other people there, DTE employees, and Dave announced in a loud voice how much he had enjoyed my vacation! I ignored this, you see, for some months now, my Dr has had me on Zoloft for depression which is largely because of the situation at work. The medication helps me to remain calm when these harassment episodes occur.

The mother of Forrest Gump said "stupid is as stupid does". Let's expand on that and say bully is as bully does. To deliberately humiliate someone in front of coworkers is not a bullying tactic? This incident happened almost a month ago, before I started my blog, but I want to include it "for the record" in case that record needs opened.

Dave talks about times he has been thrown in jail for fighting and such. I can't say if he ever got a conviction for a crime of violence, but I suppose a law enforcement type reading this could easily find that out. A couple of weeks ago, Dave mentioned to me that he had gotten a "street sweeper". I hope he has it legally.