It’s been a while. Four months. Not as long as some people I know, but hardly regular posting.

The rest of October, and all of November was a pretty busy time, between everyone in Meghan’s family with birthdays (myself included), and sorting out issues with this new computer. December with the manic holiday buying (which, admittedly, I did very little of, so it’s a poor excuse - but that’s what this is about - excuses). At least during the holidays we got together with Luke, Chie, James and Jess. That was quite nice.

January was a little slow at work, so I finally got my car in the shop. I’m still rounding up parts to fix it, but it should be ready for spring. Unfortunately, January being slow has also led me to why I’m blogging at 9:24am on a weekday; I’m laid off. Not that it’s all bad. I get some unemployment enjoyment, and a little vacation, which I haven’t really taken in quite some time. Okay, it hasn’t been that long, but it feels like it has. Maybe I’m a wuss and need more off time than people with a real work ethic.

So I plan to take it easy for a few weeks, and hopefully my boss can score me a temporary position as a parts delivery dude, which would suit me just fine. We’ll see; the success or not, of that will determine if there are more forthcoming updates here, I think.

Still no house pics, Other Luke! :p

And now, in case anyone actually wants to know, the tech section

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Posted by Ron as Computers, Fire-in-a-can, Games, Home Sweet Home, Miscellaneous, Work at 11:21 AM EST

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I haven’t blogged this month, so before it’s too late, here goes.

I haven’t been up to much of note. Still anxiously awaiting the day that my boss lets me know what’s going on with my future. I’d really really like to be signed up for an apprenticeship; the sooner the better, as far as I’m concerned.

Once I know how secure my job is, I’m sure there are a few things that will get taken care of. I know I have blogged a little list about it before, but now I may have some things to add to said list.

My computer is beginning to give me some trouble. I don’t know if my hard drives are dying, or if WindowsXP is finally taking a shit after nearly 4 years. I’ve been getting some disk errors lately, and chkdsk has been running at startup a lot recently. My gut feeling tells me it might be one of the hard drives. Either way, it might be time to retire this box to light duty.

I think I’ve found my replacement. I’m tempted to go with an ultra-quiet HTPC from Lix Systems, whose specialty is inexpensive Linux-based set-top systems. To start, I’d likely dual-boot Windows and Linux until I become more familiar with the latter, and am sure it does everything I want it to. This would then be hooked up to the new LCD TV/monitor I’d get for the livingroom. Coupled with a wireless keyboard and mouse, it sounds ideal; kick back on the couch to do all this crap instead of sitting at a desk.

Also on my agenda is replacing Meghan’s SVX. It has a negative association for me, as I bought it from SASS, whom I now hate. Plus, it’s not as nice as Alice, my other one. Meghan spotted a very nice-looking WRX wagon at Sudbury Fine Cars, so perhaps we’ll check it out one of these weekends. However, this is a rather large financial commitment, and I have a mortgage to worry about these days too, so it is by no means a certainty.

Well, that’s more or less all there is at the moment. Naturally, if something interesting occurs, I will be sure to write about it here.

Posted by Ron as Computers, Fire-in-a-can, Home Sweet Home, Media, Miscellaneous, Work at 5:54 PM EDT

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Sold my Dodge yesterday. I have received many phone calls from supposedly interested parties over the past few weeks, but most of them made insultingly low offers. They either wanted something for nothing, which is pretty common around here, or perhaps they didn’t know what the car was worth. So I held out for someone willing to make a serious offer.

There was one guy that seemed really interested, and I was going to take it in on Monday to get a mechanical inspection where I work, so I could determine a fair price, or get everything fixed before he bought it. However, that proved to be not necessary. He called me up on Saturday morning with a decent offer, and agreed to take the car “as is” (or uncertified, which means it was sold without a mechanical safety inspection). The offer was still above average market value, so I was more than happy to accept.

The transaction went smoothly, and I now have one less thing to worry about. Amusingly, the proceeds of the sale will probably be funnelled directly into my SVX before too long, as the old girl needs new brakes, springs, and struts.

I’d still like to replace the other SVX one of these days too, but Meghan and I haven’t decided what to replace it with. There are plenty of appealing vehicles to choose from out there, but one of my reasons for wanting to replace it is reliablility, so something newer would be nice, but I am also unsure if I want to spend that kind of money on it at this point.

So far, we’ve been looking at 2003-2005 PT Cruisers, 2005-2006 Jeep Wranglers, early 1990s Nissan 240SX, 2004+ Subaru WRX wagons, and Mazda Protege5 or the newer 3s, specifically the Mazdaspeed version. Each has various advantages and disadvantages, so we will have to weigh all carefully before deciding.

PTs are really either love-or-hate, and I count myself in the ‘love’ category, as they are a practical, attractively styled vehicle, but I’m really only interested in the top-range model with the turbocharged engine mated to a manual transmission, and that makes finding one difficult at best. They are relatively cheap, however, so that’s a plus.

The Jeeps are a lot of fun, but I’m not convinced I would make adequate use of it off road, and I frequently rail against people who buy SUVs and never take them off the paved highways and streets. The last thing I want to be is a hypocrite.

The Nissan is an old model, and buying one doesn’t really address the reliability problem I mentioned. Most of them are getting rusty, which is a major issue for me. I refuse to drive a rusty car. It’s also difficult to find one that hasn’t been abused, as they have a rather sporty character and are good for drift style racing, but are relatively cheap and common, and thus often bought by young “tuner kids” who ruin the car with silly modifications and drive the piss out of them.

A Subaru WRX wagon would be really cool to be sure, but they don’t represent a lot of value for the money. They’re nice, but relatively low on non-drivetrain features compared to the competition, and they continue to sell at those prices, so finding a bargain is unlikely. I’m sure they’re worth it, but value is still important to me this time. Also, they too suffer from similar problems to the Nissan 240 with respect to boy-racers and silly modifications.

I’ve been considering several Mazda models, as I like their design philosophy, but the Protege5 holds its value well enough that I might as well buy a new Mazda3, and if I’m buying new I have my sights firmly set on the Mazdaspeed version, which also happen to represent awesome value for the money. I’ve also found some low-km Mazdaspeed 6es for around the same money, and they’re both a little larger and boast all-wheel drive.

There are many more on my shortlist (early 90s Toyota MR2, late model Nissan 300ZX or Mazda RX-7, Mazda MX-5 Miata, for example), but they end up being impractical, summer-only, or both, and therefore are not being considered at this time.

We’re not in any hurry, so we’ll take our time and decide when the time is right.

Posted by Ron as Fire-in-a-can at 10:14 AM EDT

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On my car, I have clear plastic covers over both my license plates, mostly to keep them looking shiny and new. Sometime last week, call it Thursday, when I was leaving work, I noticed the front one had fallen to the ground in the parking lot. I didn’t really think anything of it, since it had been badly cracked (by a cyclist who was riding on the sidewalk!) during the time I spent in London. I figured it finally let go and fell off.

The next day, I took my Dodge to work so that a prospective buyer could pick it up and take it to his mechanic, again I noticed my plate cover, and remembered that I’d meant to check if it fell off my car or if someone backed into me or somesuch.

Monday rolls around, and I thought nothing of it in the morning. I put my lunch things back into my car after lunch, and remembered to check it out. My front plate was missing! I immediately assumed it just fell off after the cover let go, so I began to search the parking lot for it. Instead, I found another license plate cover, this one shiny and new-looking, except that it appeared to have been forcibly removed. Odd, I thought. Maybe I should check my rear plate, just to be sure.

It was gone. I don’t know exactly how long I’d been driving the car with no plates on it, but I finally put two and two together; they had been stolen, deliberately, and during broad daylight.

The boss and I checked the security cameras, but it was too late, the hard drive space had already been recycled. More pieces of the story began to come together, like how the delinquents in the building across the road had been in late last week, mentioning something about getting one of their direlect beaters running again. Sure enough, the car in question was now gone. This building has a parking lot full of junk, smashed cars, and when I went to check, all of the cars had no plates. It’s a bit of a slum; property values are depressed because the steel plant is directly across the road.

Anyway, to make this long story somewhat less long, I will be brief. I got Meghan to drop off my old spare plates at my work so I could drive the car with a minimum of suspicion. I reported my plates stolen that evening after work, and filled out the requisite paperwork. About an hour later, someone from near the scene of the crime was nabbed driving with stolen plates. I don’t know if they were mine, but it is at least possible. The next day, there were two cruisers parked at the slum apartments for a good long while, I wonder if it was related?

Anyway, all is well now. I’ve reregistered my old plates to my car, and it only cost 10$. Annoying, but it could have been much worse.

Posted by Ron as Fire-in-a-can, Work at 9:10 AM EDT

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I may have finally found another job here in the Sault. Tomorrow I start on a “trial basis” at Reliable Auto. I got the heads up on this from my dad, and he heard from our longtime mechanic who happens to be good friends with the fellow that owns the garage I will be starting at. Goes to show, it’s all who you know. Especially around this town, it seems, since the two years I was down south I had zero difficulty finding work while knowing exactly nobody.

Now, the term “trial basis” strikes dread into my heart, particularly after my experience at SASS in Stratford. This time, I am trying not to put the cart in front of the horse, but I will say that I am trying to be cautiously optimistic.

If this does work out though, I guess I can get on that list of things I want.

• my TV is old and crappy; time for an upgrade. I’m thinking 30-32 inch wide-LCD.
• I have under a gig left on my computer; I need an internal storage drive.
• Dishwasher. I hate doing dishes, and with 4 people around, a lot of dishes need doing.
• finally, I’d like to replace two of my old cars with one newer one, but I’m not holding my breath on this one.

Posted by Ron as Computers, Fire-in-a-can, Home Sweet Home, TV & Movies, Work at 2:39 PM EDT

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So today is the Vernal Equinox. The weather was not encouraging today; dismal and headache-inducing. But maybe with the spring weather will come some welcome change.

I’ve been back in Sault Ste. Marie for almost 3 full months now, and I have yet to find a job. Somehow I thought it would be different this time. I returned full of confidence, with new skills, a better attitude, and more experience. I guess I should have known better. Last time I lived here, it took me 6 full years of looking (to be fair, it was on-and-off looking) to find something, and that something started at minimum wage.

Sure, there are jobs out there, but everyone around here wants one of two things; they either want someone who will work for next-to-nothing, or someone with 5+ years experience and fully trained. There doesn’t seem to be a happy medium. Call it the “Soo Factor” for lack of a better term. That’s kind of catchy. I think I’ll go with it.

Mind you, it comes off as an excuse, which I suppose it is, but after a search as demoralising as this one has been thus far, I have to tell myself something in order to keep looking.

Since I’ve not been working, I’ve had plenty of spare time, ok, too much spare time. I started that CoC campaign that I mentioned in the last post. First session seemed to go over pretty well. We’ll see how that develops. I’ve also been dumping a lot of time into the D&D campaign that Meghan has been running. It just keeps getting better all the time; defintely a weekly highlight for me. I never realised how much I’d missed gaming until I went without for a year and a half.
Let’s see, what else?

I’ve found out about at least 3 more retarded internet fads this year. The Terrible Secret of Space was pretty amusing; by the same fellow responsible for the silly Zero Wing remix that made the rounds a while ago, and almost as funny. Almost.

Also been linked to a euro DJ putting out CDs under the name Basshunter. Now, I’m not a huge fan of techno usually, especially clubbin’ shit, but this is pretty catchy, pop-y stuff. It’s cute. And from what I’ve heard so far, all of it very nerdy. I guess that’s what makes it endearing. That, and the fact that it’s in Swedish, so I can’t understand how crappy the lyrics are. So far, I’ve heard two tracks, the first one, ‘Boten Anna,’ about a mIRC chat bot called Anna, whom it is discovered, is a real person. The other was about playing in a Warcraft 3 clan on a map called Defense of the Ancients, or DotA for short. Not phenominal, and so campy it hurts, but it was good for a chuckle.

Then there’s the Decemberists. I’ve heard a lot about them in the past year or so, but I never got around to checking them out, until yesterday when Robin Ward posted a link to one of their songs. I figured they’d be overblown, and that was pretty much bang-on. Nothing impressive or special about them, IMHO.

I realise that opinion lacks credibility, because, yeah, I am a nobody, but also because of its juxtaposition immediately following what was essentially a positive review of some cheesy eurotechno. So be it, I guess. I’ll follow it with something equally damaging.

A Shoggoth on the Roof; a musical pardoy of Fiddler on the Roof, based on H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. It’s funny; that’s really all there is to say about it. I’m not otherwise inclined to watch/listen to musicals, but if someone put this on, I’d go. Someone actually tried to, apparently, but were sued into submission. The suit wouldn’t hold up, since parody is clearly fair use, but the company putting it on didn’t have the cash to fight back, so the world loses. Score another one for the tyranny.

What else is there? I guess a hundred little things, but none of them terribly important.

My car is still busted, and Meghan’s is falling apart. The old Dodge is still kicking, but it needs a lot of work before it’s trustworthy again, and I don’t feel like spending the money on it. It needs a new waterpump, which requires taking half the engine apart to get at. It’s a dumb design from that standpoint. I’d contemplated that if the pump ever went critical, I’d just do an engine swap, but at this point, it isn’t even worth it. It’s got some nasty rust starting on one of the rocker panels, and we honestly don’t need three cars. It’s ridiculous, really.

If anything, I want to get rid of two of them and get something newer and more reliable. I’ll keep my Alice, because it would be stupid to sell her after just spending almost $8k on a tranny swap; I’d never recover the investment. Besides, I still like that car, and it’s in decent enough shape. Still needs a new gearbox o-ring and now something is leaking coolant again. I think it might be coming from the lower rad hose, and also from the cap. I guess I’ll try replacing both and see if that helps. Still waiting on new suspension parts, too. I’m trying to time it so that I can have all the major stuff done at once, by Planet Motorsport in Guelph. We’ll see, I guess.

Wow, this post ent up being longer than I expected. I’ll try to post more often. I have no excuse besides laziness, and though valid as any other, it doesn’t make me feel any better about it.

I think the length of this post comes from a growing sense of disconnection from society and a build up of feelings of isolation. Seems odd, since I live with my fiancée and two of my good friends, but there you have it.

Whenever I start feeling like this, I always instinctively reach into my past. I try googling people I knew and find myself wishing that more of them were present and accounted for on the web. I’ve discussed this with Luke before, and he thinks it’s a bit foolish. I can see his reasoning. If they never bothered to keep in touch, then they weren’t good friends in the firstplace. It makes some amount of sense, but at the same time, if that were a universal truth, there wouldn’t be places like classmates and other crap like that. I’ve no intention of falling into that trap, but still.

Maybe this all started again when I called my old friend Trevor, after he called my parents house and left a drunken message on New Years’ Eve. I called him and we made plans; he was coming to the Soo from North Bay and we were going to go for coffee or something, but he never showed and he never called. I know there could be a million reasons for it, considering the nature of his visit here, but still, he could have called. So this is where I’m supposed to just say, “fuck you, I don’t care” or something, right?

I can’t do it though. It’s not like I’d even look for anything meaningful; I just want to know what people are up to. Everyone should keep a blog. Okay, that’s clearly not going to happen, and probably for the best. All it would likely do is make me feel worse about myself. I do, in fact, realise how pitiful that sounds.

Well, before this starts sounding like my young emo cousin’s webpage, I’d better quit writing. Out.

Posted by Ron as Fire-in-a-can, Games, Miscellaneous, Music, Work at 8:05 PM EDT

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Today, heck, this week has been pretty slow at work. I’m doing about half my usual workload, which one would think I’d be insane to complain about, but I’ve discovered that the only thing worse than work, is boredom.

My first test of the day didn’t even arrive until 9:30. I would have been glad to do a test on just about any vehicle, but instead, I got a real treat. The car in question was a 1993 Mazda RX-7, in Brilliant Black. I’ve always liked the 3rd gen RX-7, having admired them from afar many times, but I was not at all prepared for the experience of being in one and driving it on a dynamometer.

In short, I fell in love with every aspect of this car, and now know that someday, I simply must add one to my collection. The shifter is smooth as silk, the engine willing, and the suspension tight. I’m given to understand that they handle like a dream, thanks to a balanced 50/50 weight distribution front to rear, though I didn’t get the chance to find out.

The interior very much reminded me of my dad’s ‘99 Miata, but with a roof; that is to say, the car fits like a glove. If I were any taller, it might be a tight fit. Sometimes I enjoy being short. I enjoy full instrumentation in a car, and this one had plenty, though not a turbo boost gauge, unfortunately. The seats, of which there are only 2, are all business; well-bolstered for high-g manoevres and thinly padded, though extremely comfortable.

Anyway, as you can tell, I got quite a thrill from this machine, which I thought about for the first time today. I’ve had the feeling before with other cars, such as after my first SVX encounter back in 1998, but I never really thought about what was happening inside my brain until now. It was a sort of euphoria, and the closest thing I can think of to describe it is the feeling you get when you are infatuated with another person. When I realised that, it then struck me as odd. It’s just a machine. Why does it make me feel this way?

Obviously, I don’t actually love it, since it is merely an object, but it is something that bears further investigation.

That last point is purposefully ambiguous; I fully plan to investigate the psychological and physiological reasons for my reaction, but, knowing me, it also means that I will likely own one someday.

Posted by Ron as Fire-in-a-can, Work at 7:57 PM EST

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Only a few days after I got Alice back, I had to tow her back to Planet Motorsport because she was haemorrhaging Redline Heavy Shockproof from the gearbox, leaving puddles everywhere.

For scale purposes, that white thing in the corner is about 4 inches long. That’s a significant amount of fluid (I use the term ‘fluid’ rather loosely; it has the consistency of paste when cold). Definitely indicative of something wrong under there. So I had a look while I was at work, fearing the worst.

As you can see in the picture, there is a significant leak at the driver’s side front axle seal. Apparently, front axle seals are the Achilles’ Heel of this gearbox, and as such, Planet Motorsport stocks them. Iain had her patched up and ready to go within a day or so. He even offered to cover the tow, but I’m already covered through Canadian Tire Auto Club.

I picked up the car at Iain’s house last night, and so far so good. He still wants me to come back for a checkup at 1,000km or so, which I will be happy to do. There was also mention of how busy he is. I considered asking him for a job, but I feared a repeat of what happened last time, and have already made plans to move to Sault Ste. Marie again, in any case.

Posted by Ron as Fire-in-a-can at 6:35 PM EST

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Well, after several setbacks and issues, my silver SVX (”Alice”), finally has her STi 6-speed manual gearbox installed. I picked her up today with the help of a friend and all I can say is, HOLY CRAP. She’s actually kind of fast now.

I’d heard from people before that performing the swap will completely change the character of the car from that of a relaxed, high-speed GT, into a full-blown sportscar. I didn’t believe them. I thought, “how different could it be?” Well, now I know. They were right.

Carving a hole in the floor for the shifter linkage makes it a lot louder inside, for one thing. You get a lot more road noise, and I can hear the whine of the gears inside the transmission, as it’s sitting directly under the centre console. Not that things like that bother me, on the contrary; I love it all the more.

Things did not go entirely as planned, however. I’d planned to upgrade the springs & shocks while this was being done, but the parts for that aren’t finished yet. I wanted a US market 6MT for lower cruising RPM, but ended up with a Japanese spec version-8 unit instead. I thought I’d be getting an R180 rear differential, but my mechanic simply swapped the 3.90 ratio ring & pinion parts into my R160 casing. My DCCD controller isn’t finished yet either (not that I really care).

So highway cruising RPMs are a little high for my liking, but it’s probably for the best, as it will keep me out of trouble with the fuzz.

Mechanically, it performs flawessly, no stalling issues (yet), just pure go-power. The only thing that bugs me, is that there is a new squeak coming from somewhere (sounds like in the dash) that I’ll have to track down and silence.

I also seem to have found this problem where I can’t keep the gas pedal off the floor. Like it’s stuck there or something.

Man, my fuel mileage is going to suck for the next little while…

Posted by Ron as Fire-in-a-can at 1:24 AM EDT

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Hard to believe it’s been more than a month since my last entry. It’s not like I’m even busy — on the contrary.

But that doesn’t mean that nothing is happening.

I still don’t have my car back, even though it’s been about a month and a half. A transmission swap is not an easy task, made even more difficult when performed on a vehicle never designed for the new one going in, but 6 weeks is a bit excessive. There have been all manner of setbacks; part supply problems, and more recently, the fellows at Planet Motorsport have been spending more time repairing their rally car, after it “blew up bigtime.” I’m not in a hurry, as I don’t need the car urgently, but I’m getting anxious. I was actually supposed to go fetch it today, but it still wasn’t ready. Next week for sure. Or something.

In other news, I’m going to be moving again. Back to Sault Ste Marie this time. It pretty much guarantees my unemployment for many months (or more), but Meghan has landed herself a spot on the Algoma District School Board supply teacher rotation, which is that foot-in-the-door she needs to get a full time post. She’s making decent enough money at it already, and getting called in fairly regularly. I’m still here, milking my current job for all I can before we actually leave town. I’m going to miss the guys, but I might even have another shot at an apprenticeship with my former mechanic in the Soo.

I liked living in London, just not in this building. I like the location, but It’s too small, there are too many immature kids living here on mommy and daddy’s dime, and rent / parking is going up, up, up!

There is also a strong chance that we’ll be bringing some of our Windsorite friends with us. Thinking about going in on renting a big house, trying to practise some form of communism on a modest scale, see how it goes. I know I’ve been warned, and seen the effects of living with friends can have on one’s life and on the friendship itself, but I don’t think we’ll have any of those problems. Nobody ever does, but I really don’t think we will. Dan and James are two of the most upstanding fellows I can think of. Assuming the house is big enough, I don’t think privacy will be that much of an issue either.

This has the lovely side effect of creating a potential RPG “dream team” as I like to call it. Dan and James are both avid roleplayers (in the truest sense of the word), and our friend Rob, who lives in the Soo, is still very much interested in gaming again. So with three of the best roleplayers I can think of, plus Meghan and I, how can we go wrong? I predict much D&D, Call of Cthulhu, and other such good times. Not to mention that every day can be a LAN party.

Anyway, that’s about it for now. I’ll try to update more often, I promise.

Posted by Ron as Fire-in-a-can, Games, Miscellaneous, Work at 8:00 PM EDT

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