Minor Win thread - Life is good!

In reply to barefootcyborg5000 :

Oooooooh. That explains the cyborg tag. 

Got caddy back together with a repaired radiator, new ac condensor, and tensioner.  Just have to do the last few things and get her listed in time for tax return season!

Sunday I decided to take a ride on the bike because it was 55 degrees and the route I went ended up being gravel road halfway through. No problem. Halfway down the gravel road down in a holler was at least a 40 foot long patch of ice covering the whole width of the road. Carefully inching down the ice I ran into a series of potholes. Prior to the potholes I was moving across the ice without issue. The first three were small maybe a foot across, no problem. Pothole 4 was at least 3 feet across and because I didn't want wet feet I kept them up, off the pegs but also off the ground. My problem happened when both the front and rear suspension got upset at the same time. front got fully suppressed violently as the rear tire hit the trailing edge of the pothole and also compressed. Low side on the street triple. Fortunately the protective gear worked for me and the ice prevented damage to the bike. I slid about 5 feet at 5 mph. On top of that the ice was rough enough that I was able to raise the bike without a problem. I walked the bike the last 15 feet off the ice and rolled on. Besides a little bit of excitement The bike got sprayed with mud so I had to take it to the car wash Monday night and spray it off. So now I've decided it's my adventure bike.

I think I have started to lick the query language for the storage analytics software.  This means I can finally start getting our users some useful reports...  and then the next step will be firing off incidents into service now when E36 M3 breaks.  Novel concept, I know, but better late than never?

Spinach and feta cheese pierogies.

With onion and sour cream.

today-was-a-good-day.jpeg

Looks like I'm moving to a new job after 9 years. More money and hopefully less stress. Win/win!

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

Spinach and feta cheese pierogies.

I know if I mention that to Mrs. P we'll be making some in short order.

In reply to bgkast :

Awesome!  I hope it works out for you!

Epilogue to the Minor Rant insurance/insulin debacle. After the 3rd time back and forth with the doc and the pharmacy, they figure out I am approved for Trujeho. I was a medical Guinea pig for this exact drug, so I know it works. Its 3x concentrated so hopefully I don't have the nasty bruises from short shots.

Best part? $9.99/5-6 weeks. I rarely win at these games. BERK YEAH!

In reply to Appleseed :

That's awesome. 
 

Today my wife finally won a two year battle with insurance, pharmacy insurance, and Insulet so now my kid can upgrade to the Omnipod dash. Super bonus it's going to save us $350 a month out of pocket and it's a step closer to the new 5 which will be closed loop. 
PS- I understand that is Greek to most people but if you are a T1D parent, or you live with it, you get it. 

In reply to Appleseed :

I'd say that's more than a minor win. After seeing the hoops they make my coworkers jump through, I know well that the system is just built to berk you. Glad you've had a bit of success in your fight. 

NY Nick said:

In reply to Appleseed :

That's awesome. 
 

Today my wife finally won a two year battle with insurance, pharmacy insurance, and Insulet so now my kid can upgrade to the Omnipod dash. Super bonus it's going to save us $350 a month out of pocket and it's a step closer to the new 5 which will be closed loop. 
PS- I understand that is Greek to most people but if you are a T1D parent, or you live with it, you get it. 

Unfortunately, I've long since given up on affording a pump. I can only imagine to joy it is to finally get them to cough it up for your kid. Good.

In reply to Appleseed :

After the battles I've seen you fight with this, I'm glad to see you win one. 

In reply to Appleseed :

Thanks. My wife has been fighting  insurance companies regularly for 5 years to get him what he needs. I'm sorry you are getting the run around. Getting the necessary medication and tools should not be this hard. 

NY Nick said:

In reply to Appleseed :

Thanks. My wife has been fighting  insurance companies regularly for 5 years to get him what he needs. I'm sorry you are getting the run around. Getting the necessary medication and tools should not be this hard. 

Couple of years ago, I was traveling up to 100 miles to buy insulin second hand...off of Craigslist because even with insurance it was unaffordable.  Yes, Craigslist. So this is beyond awesome.

Spent this afternoon hanging out with my new Afghan neighbors and their friends. I'm now slap full of grilled lamb, naan bread, and hopped up on way too much Chai. Good way to spend the afternoon chatting and noshing.

After 3 attempts I actually got the Honda's alignment pretty darn good. I used a second-hand longacre caster/camber gauge I bought last weekend and 50 lb. fishing line and a large set of Jack stands.  I've done hundreds of alignments in my dealership days, however the last time I did anything with strings was back in the 90s when I was taking auto shop classes.

slefain said:

Instead of just leering at my wife (a most enjoyable past time) while she did yoga this morning, I joined in for the first time. While I'm not going to say I'm ready to buy my own mat (living room rug was fine for me), but after all the popping and cracking from my 44 year old bones it actually felt pretty good afterwards. I've got back problems that put me out of commission sometimes that no medicine can touch. Maybe this yoga stuff could help with that.

So almost a month in and I'm already seeing results. The other day I put my socks on while standing up. Sounds stupid, but I haven't been able to do that in a while. I had no idea my mobility had been slipping away and I'd just been accommodating in small ways. Easier to put my shoes on now too.

I do have my own yoga mat now. I realized it wasn't a silly accessory, you actually need good traction. I'd guess is it a 80TW, we'll see how it handles the season.

i berkeleying love when an extractor works

My wife and I are engineers, but (generally) live like we have 1 income. With our company's unexpectedly good bonus this year, we will be able to pay off what has amounted to 50k in high-interest student loans in under 4 years. We will get an absolutely massive "raise" on our household finances from this, and after 4 years of focusing on it that feels good. It also means less of our individual money will go to "our" causes, which means more budget for the fun stuff :)

Both the Manic Miata and the Concert Coach live most of their lives in the garage. The van has been parked since the holidays but the Miata has been since early November.  Both have deep cycle batteries but even so that's a long time.

Because procrastination I hadn't put either on a battery tender yet. Finally got around to it this morning and both still had enough voltage that the tenders are charging happily away instead of kicking out from overload.

Crankwalk - That looks like a 1966 or 67 Honda CT90 or earlier CT200.  The fastener looks like it was a stator or clutch cover screw.  While they look like a Phillips head they are actually JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) and a proper JIS screwdriver really helps.  That said, even with a JIS screwdriver or impact, I have had my fair share of stuck screws.  If you are removing the cover, the easiest solution is to drill the offending head(s) off and remove the cover.  You can then grip the shaft with a pliers and twist them out easily.  Replacement screws are available from DRATV or Ebay.  Also on Ebay are kits to replace all the screws with stainless Allen head screws.  This is a good solution, but does not look original.  Good luck with your project.  I just finished a 1968 CT90 and have just started on a 1978 with a friend.

mundquist said:

Crankwalk - That looks like a 1966 or 67 Honda CT90 or earlier CT200.  The fastener looks like it was a stator or clutch cover screw.  While they look like a Phillips head they are actually JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) and a proper JIS screwdriver really helps.  That said, even with a JIS screwdriver or impact, I have had my fair share of stuck screws.  If you are removing the cover, the easiest solution is to drill the offending head(s) off and remove the cover.  You can then grip the shaft with a pliers and twist them out easily.  Replacement screws are available from DRATV or Ebay.  Also on Ebay are kits to replace all the screws with stainless Allen head screws.  This is a good solution, but does not look original.  Good luck with your project.  I just finished a 1968 CT90 and have just started on a 1978 with a friend.

It's a 66 and was for the left chaincase cover. *I* have proper JIS screwdrivers but the previous six hundred and forty thousand gorillas that worked on it did not. 

I started a build thread on it on here. https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/1966-honda-ct200-trail-90-rode-hard-and-put-up-with-no-compression/191378/page1/

Trust isn't dead.  I went to go get the $32 heater I won today in Indiana.

I noticed  Ford Focus door on South Bend Craigslist for a long, long time.  $29. Perfect for my bashed one. But no way am I spending 4+ in a car battling  Chicago traffic for just a door. But, I'm now on my way through the area to get the heater.

Guy still has it. I wasn't sure what day I'd be able go get it. We back and forth texted, and eventually the guy says its in the back my yard, come and get it whenever, and leave the mony in the mailbox.

Wut?

Nobody trusts a stranger like that, especially with a Craigslist deal. But, the door was exactly as described. I put the money in the box as asked. Deals a deal. Everybody wins. 

I'm taking a super long trip in a pretty short amount of time. I actually planned ahead pretty well this time, had my code reader plugged into the Expedition and brought a number of tools.

Popped a misfire (no code) 600 miles from home. Knew enough to pull into the nicely lit gas station, wait for a CEL to show up, use my spare part to fix it, and get back on the road. Felt pretty good!