Month: January 2004

Weather update: Don’t drive in the Colorado Rockies today…

I love snow.

Well, gee… Today isn’t looking like it’ll be all that great if this morning is any indicator.

The neighbor’s dog got into the trash *again* and has strewn it all over the driveway, the snow melt system for the driveway seems to have developed an issue and one of the lines has stopped working, the boiler has once again developed some bug that is preventing the production of hot water, and Comcast is sucking again with 200-300ms ping times to just about anywhere and 20-30% packet loss… Umm, in non-geek that means –if- a web page comes up, it takes 3-5 minutes to do it.

Everything but Comcast, and maybe the neighbor’s dog, is fixable. I keep thinking I need to call Comcast and ask them how much *working* cable costs per month as what I have is only $45 and obviously that isn’t enough. After all, over the last month Comcast has averaged 2 hours a night of non or near-non operation, which is always handy.

Ehh, just grin and bear it right?

Other than that, there isn’t much in the way of new news to report. It’s still snowing, which is good as it keeps the flatlanders on the ski slopes and spending money. Yesterday held a beautiful example of flatlander vs. snow as a car with Illinois plates wound up parked on top of the Wal-Mart roundabout. Yes, on top of it. No one was hurt thankfully, but the four guys in the car did get laughed at by about 300 passing motorists before the tow truck managed to extract the car.

Fortunately for them the aspen trees were only planted two months ago and the snow is deep enough that there was little damage to the car and they drove it away even though they hit the roundabout at around 40 mph…

Well, with the weather outside being perfect for the skiers and the last two days being mostly champagne powder, I seriously doubt the store will see any customers. I think I’ll take today off and try to stave off entropy around here for a little longer.

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Disclaimer: Unless the word absquatulation has been used in its correct context somewhere other than in this warning, it does not have any legal or grammatical use and may be ignored. No animals were harmed in the transmission of this journal entry, although the German Sheppard next door is living on borrowed time, let me tell you.

There was a full blown blizzard last night which is still carrying on, in a lesser form, this morning. I’m glad I got the Wag running as I have to get groceries today.

Other than that it promises to be another day. Jack should, in theory, make it into the shop today but I seriously doubt any customers will… It’s a “powder day” as the term goes up here and few businesses will be open due to all the employees being on the slopes.

And I just finished the last book I had to read… Today is gonna suck.

Well, I have to get rolling, get some breakfast, and get out into the great white world.

Just got back from the dinner party over at Tina and Rick’s place… Jack is a damn good cook.

The prime rib was perfect. Jack is now officially the only person on Earth who can make 4 cuts of prime rib, medium rare to well done, simultaneously with one chunk of meat. I dunno how he did it, but everyone got exactly what they wanted and the 6 pound chunk of boneless meat was only in the oven for an hour.

He also has discovered some way to make real baked potatoes in the microwave in less than 15 minutes.

I think the only thing he prepared “normally” was the corn on the cob which was prepared via a big blue enameled pot of boiling water.

He got there at 3pm on the nose and had the entire meal served by 4:15, and that includes the sautéed mushrooms and onions and tossed salads.

Anyways, after stuffing myself I spent a few hours hearing all about Jack’s exploits up here in Vail back in the 70’s from Tina and hearing all about the latest conspiracy theories from Rick. All in all it was a pleasant evening even if it was in *another* smoke filled house.

They do have this cool “smoke eater” thing which does a pretty nice job of clearing the air and I found myself sitting right next to it while we chit-chatted. Though even with the cool gizmo I’m hacking up a lung and I smell like I’ve gone walkabout to all of the local bars tonight… Sigh.

All in all I had a lot of fun. I’m not the world’s most social being and it usually takes and act of divine intervention to get me to go out somewhere, but Tina and Rick are pretty earthy people and I find them to be pleasant to hang around… After all, anyone who has a “hippie room” which has no furniture but a mattress in the middle of the floor, a stereo, 12 kinds of lava lights, tie dye tapestries on the walls, black lights, and lots of really neat 60’s artwork all over the place has got to be cool. That and they like Yes which immediately adds 2-3 points to your “cool” score. 🙂

See, Tina and Rick are real hippies. I mean *real* hippies… Tina says she’s around 50, but she never lost her penchant for Lennon glasses, tie dye, and all the other things that the 60’s were known for, if you get my drift.

Well I got out of there at about 8:30 and Jack is so sloshed he’s spending the night there. If I hadn’t forgot my scotch I’d probably be spending the night there too.

And with that I think I’m going to sign off for the night, take a hot shower, and burn the clothes I’m wearing.

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The “Wag” lives again!

After sitting for three months, the throaty growl of the ’74 409 cubic inch monster was heard rumbling though the neighborhood again… Much to the chagrin of my neighbors I’m sure.

Needless to say the battery charger still works and managed to shove enough electrons back into the battery to get things going again. She fired up on the first click of the key.

Man I love old Jeeps.

While the engine room got up to temperature I brushed snow off of the hood and windshield, and then it was time for the really expensive part of the ritual… Gas.

I climbed back into the beast, which is tricky if you’re not used to off-road vehicles as the bottom of the door is two and a half feet off the ground, and chugged out into the street. Oil pressure at 60psi, temperature at 150, pyros reading 700, fuel/air mix reading average… So I goosed the Wag a bit: I was in 2 wheel and the Wag lit up the tires and shot out down the snow packed street out front, obviously happy to be moving again. I pulled onto Highway 6, which is dry and free of snow, and was immediately tailgated by some bozo in an Audi A6 so I did what any sane man driving a 400 hp pre-runner would do… I put my foot in it!

The Wag responded by roaring through its dual 3-inch glass packed exhaust, dropping a gear, and pulling the front end up as we shot from 15 to 50 in the time it took for me to register that I was speeding. The side effect to this show of mechanical testosterone was that a foot thick, four foot wide and 8 foot long slab of snow slid off the roof and onto Mr. Audi’s hood and windshield, effectively burying the little car.

Needless to say he didn’t get within a dozen car lengths after that.

Ok, on to the gas station. I pulled into the local Gas Haus and proceeded to fill up; $20 rolled by, $30 rolled by, $40 rolled by… About this time the station attendant comes out to make sure the pump isn’t leaking or something. At $48 dollars I stopped and he looked relieved, until I took off the other gas cap and started filling again.

See, the Wag holds 50 gallons of fuel in two tanks and won’t even start on less than 90 octane gas, so I have to buy the expensive stuff which right now is $1.98 a gallon.

So, about $100 lighter in the wallet and about 300 pounds heavier in the back end of the Wag, I headed back home by way of the highway. I blew the carbon out of the exhaust and made sure the transmission was still tight with a 100mph pass down I-70 from Avon to Dowd Junction… Yep, I love old Jeeps.

That’s my day so far.

At 3pm I’ll be heading over to Tina and Rick’s place for dinner, but after that I have a sketch to get done before midnight… Sheesh!

Later…