Surprise 7051 – 7100!
Well H.N.Lucas threw a wrench in the works for our game playing, sorry everyone. I replied to an Alff comment (his are easy to find near the top) asking if it was okay. I did not want to overwhelm him with replies if he did not want to chase storms. I did not get an email notification from him either way, but this morning i see that my comment is gone, even from intensedebate profile. Oh well. So I found this one by Skaycog to use, it's a but down but I guess Last Activity will help, sorry. Anyway anyone can start a new fifty if they like, don't wait for me.
My car does have a theme song in fact:
[youtube KsZEJqdqwPc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsZEJqdqwPc youtube]
Svenne Rubins
En Gammal Amazon – An Old Amazon
I've never been an enthusiast
When it comes to songs about cars
But I want to state, so that it has been told
Was a day on the radio
There was somebody playing
A composition which was about…
An old Amazon
With trim and chrome
Wheel of bakelite
California white exterior
Genuine braided seats
In imitation leather
An old Amazon
An old Amazon
I turned the volume up to the max
It was something that happened, it was that I felt
The fact was that now it was time
So I called Helgi's yard selling cars and said
– Now, I have decided for myself
Now I know exactly what I want…
An old Amazon
With trim and chrome
Wheel of bakelite
California white exterior
Genuine braided seats
In imitation leather
An old Amazon
An old Amazon
I biked down to Helgi's business
Certainly there were plenty of Amazons where
At first it seemed that all was over
But then I found out, behind the rest
An old Amazon
With trim and chrome
Wheel of bakelite
California white exterior
Genuine braided seats
In imitation leather
An old Amazon
An old Amazon
An old Amazon
With trim and chrome
Wheel of bakelite
California white exterior
Genuine braided seats
In imitation leather
An old Amazon
An old Amazon

Hi Skaycog,
There's even a song about the Duett:
[youtube Li3T4cHoY5Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li3T4cHoY5Y youtube]
Roger and Over: Volvo Duett
"She is my Volvo B18 – 210.
Two side mirrors and the roof rack on the back."
The Duett was the station wagon model that came right before the Amazon wagon. It was the 210 while mine is the 220. I also have the B18 engine, so it's another great song for my car 🙂 Crap that reminds me, there is a guy that sent me some pics of a rusty Duett that he has near Chicago. I never even looked at them! Also a guy at work here has a really crispy PV444 that he wants to sell. I'll post some pics soon I hope, but I still owe everyone cake pics, yikes it's been busy!
I'm glad to hear you had a nice weekend. I would not have been brave enough for a TB shrimp anything, wow! We had smash burger this weekend and Chinese. I'm 206.6 lb because of that. Our weekend was busy too. I got six (!) bicycles ready for spring, cleaned the gutters, fixed the bathtub, and washed the salt and cruft off of the bottom of the Volvo. Kevin was too ill to begin the planes, but he also had the district competitions for the pinewood derby. He went to that but we only stayed for a short while. We did not win, there were some really incredible ones made though.
Have a good one,
7053

TowerofPower……I agree that music and cars go together. You can't one without the other. (That sounds like a song).
How was your weekend? I told mzs, smz, whatever, about mine. No big deal.
7056

$kaycog…
I must say that a shrimp taco from Taco Bell…sounds interesting.
My weekend was good. I went to Dubuque to visit my girlfriend. We played some trivia boardgames and on Saturday night we had a surprise birthday party for my girlfriend's mom at a local brewery. It was a lot of fun, and even included an impromtu paper airplane flying contest. Back to the workweek for now, although it's refreshing to not have to work extra hours anymore (hopefully). I wish the same for Mr. Mzs.
I'll keep trying to get the Jalopnik Stormchasers to work here at work. It is still wonky there for some reason for me.
7057

Hi Tower,
Thanks I'm glad he's better now too. Those bitty little engines are cute. I'm meeting with two guys that have made planes like these to get a bunch of tips. Tomorrow they are flying little R/C airplanes in a barn, I don't know if I will have time to see that, but I will try. I'm glad you had such a nice weekend – gf, trivia, beer, paper airplanes, birthday – yippie! Aga's friend turned 40 today, last night we snuck over to her house and stuck forks with birthday wishes on them all over her lawn, tee hee hee…
I heard back from my Japanese penpal that she and all her friends/family are safe, I'm very happy about that. I still have not heard back from work about if they will match contributions made to charity, either way I will donate some money.
Sincerely,
7059

smz, zsm, pow…….I just drove a 2011 Ford Explorer V6. It is really snappy and very lovely. I had the feeling that I was sitting awfully low though and didn't like that feeling. Other than that, it was pretty impressive.
That's really something how Kevin doesn't want anything to happen to his bike. Since he takes such good care of it, his cars will have the same treatment, and that's a good thing.
I had Chinese buffet for lunch today, and it was soooooo good!!!! There was an orange chicken dish that was excellent!
7061

mzs…
In my eternal quest to tie storm chasing into the stormchasers thread I give you an RC plane being used to launch data probes into the inflow of a tornado producing thunderstorm. I'm just amazed that the guy is able to fly in that kind of dynamic wind environment.
I'm glad to hear that your Japanese penpal is ok. The events in Japan are just awful and I hope that the country is able to recover quickly and without a radiological problem.
7063

Hi Skaycog,
You would not like the Focus wagon then, but it was one of my favorite cars that I saw at the Chicago autoshow. The base model has a very simple interior. The thing I like about tall cars is that they are easier to get in and out of, especially when my back is giving me trouble, but they are not as comfortable to drive long distances for me because of the upright seating position instead of the laid-back sort, if that makes sense.
Anyway I forgot about the cake pictures again, did not have much time though, I was super dad yesterday, playing with kids, reading to them, and helping with math. Then I was working on a little script for Aga to annotate her pictures. I'll try and remember again today (HA!). Anyway here are some old Volvos for sale I have learned about thanks to people seeing mine and asking if I want to buy theirs:
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/19…
http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/20…
http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/18…
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/19…
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/18…
You'll have to click on them cause I did not want to make the comment super long. This made me smile yesterday:
<img src="http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/2599/17519085.gif"&gt;
Sincerely,
7065

Hi Tower,
That video was amazing! I forwarded it to some of the R/C guys here at work. I was in Kobe last year. They had a terrible earthquake in '95. 15 years later and you could not tell. I think that the Japanese are very good about this. One thing that surprised me is one of the Kobe residents helping organize the conference told me that initially the government was doing a poor job of disaster relief, so some rival Japanese mafia gangs started distributing food, water, blankets, etc. That tidbit blew my mind.
I drove in the Volvo today, ostensibly so that I could quickly get to the barn to watch the R/C flying, but really I just wanted to drive the car. Also I had no idea how neat those little model engines are. They even have diesel ones. None use spark or throttles can't even use carbs since venturi principles don't work that small. So they sort of use the pumping of the motor and it's vacuum a valve to mix. There is platinum glow plug in the alcohol ones, because methanol and platinum have a catalytic reaction that produces heat. The diesel ones, they have a screw doodad that you use to change the size of the compression chamber. It's all just crazy and amazingly interesting!
Sincerely,
7067

szm, zsm, jfk…….If I do get a different vehicle, I'm thinking of a Ford Edge. I too like taller vehicles, and I am used to sitting higher in my Explorer. But right now, I'm not really in the market, as my car only has 66,000 miles on it, and I just bought new tires before Christmas.
I bet you're glad to be driving the Amazon again. I guess if you have one Volvo, people are inclined to think that you want more. I'm sure you do too, but we have to be practical, DON'T WE? 😉
7069

szm, mzs, raf……Very nice job on those scripts. What's that green stuff? It looks like Rice Krispie Treats to me.
Yeah, it's turning green here too. I noticed a lawn this morning that has scattered daffodils growing all over it. When they are finished blooming, they will be mowed along with the grass on a weekly basis until next Spring. It's kinda neat and very different, as I've never seen that before.
Do you do anything special for St. Patrick's Day? I'm going to have corned beef and cabbage with friends at their home. The guy does the cooking, and he's quite good at it.
7071

$kaycog…
What an appropriate day for the lawn to turn green! Mine is still brown and mostly snow covered. That lawn with the daffodils sounds interesting. I would hate to mow them all over in a few weeks. Have fun at your Irish dinner!
7073

Hi Skaycog,
Still very busy with work, sorry. I got home at 8:30PM yesterday, I need to get home at a reasonable time tonight. Anyway one of my friends from back in UofC days sent me this link: http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/03/16/u-of-c-stu… Some of the comments crack me up:

Randy: STD Central. Mom and dad would be better off spending their money on a new car.
Martin: And that’s saying a lot because new cars are REALLY bad investments.
Deb: Watch the grades drop faster than a speeding bullet. Only in Chicago…idiots.
K-mon: Do you even know how intense the academic atmosphere is at UChicago? There is no space for dropping grades, believe me.
Bob: But you can drop your drawers…..

There is a lot of UofC-like humor in there. Also the lines about socially repressed stuffy academic climate needing a sexual revolution makes me want to giggle. (Not only because of all the stuff that happened in the '60-80s, the playboy connection, all the feminists, etc) Back when I was there, my friends and I certainly knew how to have fun! The art students and faculty especially could make the average Berkley student blush. And the sex I had at the UofC was fine too (Reg stacks!) thank you very much. So I don't know what's wrong with these new kids there. I mean I lived next door to The Pub and Tucker Max lived in my dorm afterall! Kids these days….
Okay now that I am done with all the get off my lawn stuff. Aga usually does some prank to the kids on St. Patrick's day. I don't know what happened yesterday (stupid being at work all day), but I know that there was a letter from a Leprechaun in the morning.
Have a good one,
7075
PS: Had to edit, some part got cut out in the middle, likely my mouse though. Oh 204.2 lb

mzs…
haha…that University of Chicago article is quite funny! So how was your weekend? Hopefully there was no work involved.
7078

TowerofPower…..I can't believe me. I was telling all of my friends to be sure to watch that moon Saturday night, and then I forgot to watch it myself. I even forgot last night, and both nights had perfectly clear skies. If I don't remember tonight, I might as well forget it.
I know what you mean about dandelions being pretty for awhile, then they are just nasty.
Look what I took a ride in yesterday……a 1969 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ55, like the one on the right. I've never even seen one before. I've seen plenty of the FJ40's, on the left, but not the wagon. My friend just had a 4-speed put in it, and he wants to add rally lights and do a few more things but is basically going to leave it as is. Other than a Lexus, this is the first Toyota I've ridden in.
<img src="http://www.toyoland.com/photos/1969/1969-land-cruisers.jpg"width="500"/&gt;

Hi Skaycog,
It's going to be another really busy week at work, but I owe you the full report as we say so here goes (i better remember to breathe as I type)! So last week was a blur (wheeee), I'm fuzzy on some days by now. Aga really really liked that script I wrote for her. Here are some more recent pics: http://agamama.blogspot.com/ She's used it a bunch and she wrote to me, "It's so great to be married to a smart guy like you." That made my day! It's been the first time I've used math in a really really long time now, maybe something like two years ago I did some math for a PID loop at work, that was the last time. That feels good too.

szm, smz, gr8……A torn diaphragm, eh? That's not good. Is it a big deal? Also, what's up with the transmission, and what do you have to do there? And then the key broke off in the ignition?
You really had a busy weekend, but then you usually do. I guess the only really different thing I did over the weekend was to take a ride in that Land Cruiser. I went out for dinner Friday night and had a relaxing Saturday night in front of the TV.
7083

Hi Skaycog,
I have a bad idea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonshine,_Illinois It's 4.5hrs away for a moonburger… I drove today, was rainy over here, sorry, I know you wanted it instead.
Sincerely,
7086

mzs…
It sounds like you are having a ball with your Amazon…even with the issues! It sounds like it's running quite well though, it just has some moderate annoyances.
It's crazy that you picked up the quake half way around the world! I know that the waves can travel around the planet (minus the shadow zone) but seeing it happen is crazy! I'll have to read through the articles you sent me during lunch when I have a chance. They look interesting.
7087

TowerofPower…….I couldn't see the moon last night because of smoke from three fires in CO. I think the two fires North of me were the reason for me being able to see smoke. The skies are clear this morning, so evidently the fires have been extinguished. I haven't heard.
A girlfriend made some "Oreo Truffles", and I had one last night. OMG! Google that and check them out. I noticed that there are various methods in making them. They are really good (and sweet).
<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_qiIwYEWfAo4/TPMIRdehX4I/AAAAAAAACw4/lLMjlEjoYa4/s1600/oreo-truffles-medium.jpg"width="500"/&gt;
7089

Hi Skaycog,
I've never had a moonburger. There's an online buddy Aga and I have in St. Louis, he wrote me about it. He rode with his buddies on motorcycles out there, maybe it was last spring now. I thought it would be nice to do that and then head back to Fairbury speedway to watch Racin one day, but it turns out to be way farther than I thought! He emailed me that it's worth it to try definitely, and they do look great in pictures.
Anyway remember when I was sick a few weeks back? I came down and tried to help Aga cook but spilled all this chocolate bits on the floor of the kitchen before heading back to bed. Balls that look just like that are what she made. They were great! Why are we back to food always? Anyway 205.2 lb this morning. This dieting thing is hard.
Have a good one,
7091

Good morning Skaycog,
Nope, have not checked. There are a few places to buy such parts but I have not had time. I'm fine leaving it as is until it gets worse. I know what it feels like as the fluid gets low and it must be leaking very slowly. We made some more progress on those planes:
<img src="http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/197419_630667535070_2912893_34909553_3077454_n.jpg"&gt;
<img src="http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/197547_630667574990_2912893_34909555_5814397_n.jpg&quot; width="500">
Aga is sick now 🙁 I just got a phone call from her that she left the doctor and has sinus infection. Jake had a cold, on Monday he missed school. Who will be next? Come and spin the wheel folks! So this morning I had to come in to the school because Aga had singed-up to help-out. She emailed that she was not coming in, but felt really badly about it, did not hear back from Jake's teacher, so I came by just in case. Good thing, the teacher was going to have me work on the quilts that the kids had been making. The other lady that was in charge was ill too! So I got the stuff from her car, she left to get back in bed, and I started cutting. By 10AM there were two other ladies and I left for work. Isn't my day-to-day funny? I love it.
Have a good one,
7093

Hi Skaycog,
They really are great about patience so far. We've made a bunch of mistakes, one of Kevin's favorite parts was making replacement ribs for the wings from waste (the scrap left over), two were eaten by Max for example, others we sanded too short 😉 Aga is doing much better already, it's really amazing how much antibiotics help. Basically I fed them, made sure they did homework, Michelle practiced piano, I played Toot-n-Otto with Jake, we watched In the Middle and Modern Family, and we made the airplanes. Aga feels so much better she is reading a bit of a book to the older two. Jake's already out 😉
I had a great day, though it snowed a it today! That jumping PV image on hooniverse inspired me. Over lunch I went and drove Astrid over this hilly road near here. Unfortunately I was not able to get any air, oh well, but we tried alright 😉 I did take care of some groceries then too, since Aga was not feeling well, so that we could have food tomorrow, but that was really more of an excuse to try and lift off for a bit.
Good night,
7095

$kaycog…
I have had Oreo truffles before! My girlfriend wanted to try making them once and they were delicious! I finally saw the moon on my way to work this morning. The first time it's been clear since last Friday. It looked pretty normal but now it's been several days so I'm sure I missed it.
If you like Oreo Truffles, you might want to try Oreo Fluff…it's my new favorite thing!
<img src="http://friendseat.com/user_upload_recipe/thumbnail400/1150_35298_friendseat_OreoFluff.JPG&quot; width=500>
7097

Thanks Tower,
They really are pretty intense and calm when working, it's like night and day with my kids who are usually jumping over couches at least. Ever seen Wipeout on ABC? One day we heard some noises from the basement. We went down there and the kids were setting-up a Wipeout course! So we took them outside and we all set one up and then had a contest. There's always something like that, it's a wonder no one has broken anything. Well lots of things have been broken, I meant like bones 😉 Yesterday we got to the point where we unpinned the wings. That was fun, we stuck the fuselages on temporarily and were flying around the house making airplane noises. Yes I was too.
Sincerely,
7099