So much for my relaxing little vacation.

London was fine and dandy, the trip down was seamless and fun, the visit to the car lot in Stratford was mostly fruitless, but not unenjoyable, and the trip back was even alright, until we hit Sudbury. Then it got interesting.

The charging system warning light came on as we were approaching the bypass. The light is the one that looks like a battery. Now when this light comes on, it means that there is something wrong with your car’s electrical system; either the battery is dying, the alternator’s output is below or above the normal range, or there is a fault somewhere in the system, like a bad ground connection. In any case, if you continue driving like that, all sorts of bad things could happen, from the car just quitting, to frying all the electronics on board, so you really can’t afford to take any chances.

It was only 7 o’clock, so we pulled in to the local Canadian Tire, hoping that they could get a look at it right away. This was, apparently, a foolish notion. Best they could do was the next day, and at first, this seemed unacceptable. We had places to go and it wasn’t dark yet. I concluded that if it was either the battery or the alternator, and if they had one in stock, I could just change them out myself in the parking lot, so we went in again to see about getting a volt-meter to diagnose the problem.

After poking around a little, it turned out that the battery was just fine, which is good, because Miatas have a very special, unique, and expensive battery not used in any other car, and so likely not in stock anywhere. It has a different chemical inside because of its location (the trunk) and is extra small and light, like everything else on the car. Though it would have been the easiest to change, I could have substituted a different one temporarily, and even if dead, the car would continue to run from the power provided by the alternator; we could just drive it home and deal with it later.

Checking the alternator revealed the problem; it was only putting out 12.1 volts. That would explain the funny smell on the way into town. Here I just thought it was the smell of Sudbury. A car’s electrical system runs from both the battery, nominally 12.6 volts, and the alternator, usually putting out about 14. Most cars, especially older ones, will continue to run until they’re at about 8 or 9 volts, but lights will be dim, accessories will be sluggish or non-functional, and the vehicle may run poorly, especially if newer. In my case, the altenator didn’t even have enough juice to keep the battery charged (anything under 12.5 volts is unlikely to start the car), and would probably not be enough to keep all the lights on, or operate wiper or blower motors. It was getting dark, and we were back in the North, so it was cooler and would be a little unpleasant without heat. Really, not having enough juice to power the lights was the big issue. I’d also noticed that the car was beginning to idle strangely, so continuing didn’t seem like a good idea.

Looking under the hood, the alternator is actually fairly easy to access and change, and I was prepared to just change it in the parking lot. I was at a Canadian Tire after all, I could just pop in and buy whatever tools I needed to do the job. Being a summer car, there were no rusty bolts to worry about, and I didn’t particularly care about getting dirty. However, it was irrelevant since they didn’t have one in stock, nor did anyone else in town that was still open, nor, as it turns out, did anyone else that wasn’t open. I found that odd, since Mazda uses similar versions of that 1.8 litre mill in other cars, and due to the economy of scale, would likely share as many parts with other cars as possible. As it turns out, after having asked around at my friendly, local junkyard when I got back, that alternator is only used in the Miata, and only in 1999-2000 model years. Similar is not identical, I guess.

So I called home. I was beginning to despair and feel panicky. I didn’t want to pause my trip here. I wanted to spend all of Tuesday relaxing at home, not continuing to drive. I told my parents of our situation and tried to figure out what to do. I determined that we should just get a motel and make an attempt to locate the part tomorrow, or failnig that, rent a tow dolly the next day and have them tow us back. There was a nice eatery close by and I could see several motels from where we stood in the parking lot. I also knew of a nice place near where I used to live in Lively. There was even a liquor store in this plaza. I’d planned to make the best of things; I could get some booze, have a bite to eat, get a room, get wasted and fornicate with my lovely wife in a place that was vaguely familiar at least. But this is Sudbury, quite possibly one of the most hostile places I’ve ever been.

To recap, since I left in 1986 or 87, I’ve never really had a good experience being back, or doing anything there. Meghan had a job interview with Rainbow District School Board one time, and we briefly considered moving there. We found only one place remotely suitable, and we got turned down from renting it. We had a flawless record with landlords and good job prospects, and we were turned down. By someone from Blind River no less, who knew me at least by reputation. Maybe that was why. Fucking cunt. While we were there, we had huge issues with Bell gouging us for using credit cards to make phone calls from pay phones rather than burning a zillion minutes on the cell phone. We were camping while househunting to keep costs down because the cheapest motels were 75$ a night, and they were all full. While camping, we had our tent stolen. Yes, fucking stolen. So we had to sleep in the car on the last night (which, with the back seat folded down and our feet in the trunk, was surprisingly comfy). The brakes on the car also decided to fail that trip, and it was by sheer luck that a Midas was able to fix it same-day. Any of the times we’ve stopped there to eat while passing though have been half-assed at best. We once went there to test drive a car (a Subaru WRX), and while on the test drive, the salesman called the police because we’d been gone too long in his estimation. Asshat.

Suffice to say, my plan epic failed. There were literally no vacancies in the entire city. None. I called every place in the book, and none of them had a room for the night, or just weren’t answering (probably for that reason). As it turns out, Sudbury is always full to the brim with out-of-town contractors. They’re a very progressive city, always building, building, building. They’re also working on extending Highway 400 all the way to Sudbury, which is a huge project. It’s really no surprise that every motel and hotel is booked solid. So, we needed a new plan, since sleeping in the car in the parking lot was not an option. We called my parents back, and asked if they would come get us. Sudbury is probably at the edge of the range where that is at all practical. They agreed to get us, and left immediately. We went to Buzzy Brown’s and had a bite to eat while we waited. I had a tasty, if oddball burger and possibly some of the worst coffee in history. We then waited the rest out at the Tim Hortons. That was a creepy enough experience; the parking lot was full of hooligans and loitering locals, pretty clearly up to no good. It made me start to fear for the safety of leaving the car here overnight, not to mention us sitting there for four hours.

Long story short we made it home, but I was pretty tired by the time that happened. It was after 4am by the time I was in bed. Good thing I took that extra day off to recover. I planned to spend it hunting down a part, driving to Sudbury, putting it in and driving back. That wasn’t in the stars either. Nobody had one, and we were not going to leave the car overnight again. We tried a convoluted plan of having the Mazda dealer in Sudbury cut a key from the VIN and bring it to their shop so they could just fix it, but by the time I found out this plan didn’t work, it was getting late in the day again. Meghan located a cheap tow dolly rental, and Dad and I hit the road at about 3 or 4. It was going to be another late night.

We made it there at around sundown, only to discover that the dolly’s straps were too big to fit the Miata’s tiny wheels. We clamped them down as best we could, and augmented that with some locking tiedown straps bought from the conveniently located Canadian Tire. ‘Good enough’ would have to do. We got in at about 2am, and again, I wasn’t in bed until about 4, so this morning I called in to work to say I wasn’t going to be there. I am still really burnt out from the road; it’s a safety issue. I could easily kill/injure myself or others at work if my mind isn’t on track. That’s not a chance I want to take.

My boss was pretty pissed off. I won’t be fired over this, I don’t think, but there’ll be hell to pay. My best bet is to go in tomorrow, nice and early, and give it my best. When he talks to me about it, I just have to try my best to explain, to make him see things from my perspective. Would he have left his 1970 Chevelle SS (the car of his dreams, the one he’s owned since he was 17) there overnight again, at the mercy of the hooligans of an unfriendly city? I hope he sees reason. To him it’s just a Miata, but to my dad, and to myself, the car represents a family project, a focus for bonding. It’s just a used Miata, far from perfect, but to us it’s special, and if he doesn’t understand that, then too damned bad.

On a positive note, Opeth rocked hard, and I snapped some lovely pics of the Grey county wind farm on the way by. Maybe I’ll even get the ambition to post some. Hahaha.

Posted by Ron as Fire-in-a-can, Home Sweet Home, Music, Work at 1:56 PM UTC

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It’s been many moons since I’ve posted here, after what could be generously described as a brief spurt. Being called back to work tends to have that effect, such that with so much less free time, I only post if I’m bored.

Clearly, now is one of those times.

I don’t even have a lot to say that is of any real interest, so as usual, I will fill this space with inane details from my mundane existence.

I’m steadily losing interest in yet another career path. I still like cars, and my co-workers (mostly), but I’m starting to think I don’t have what it takes. Maybe someday I’ll find a career that agrees with me.

I’m going to see Opeth, one of my favourite bands, in about a week. The show is in London, ON, at Centennial Hall on the 21st. I’m pretty pumped about that. It will be my first time back in London since I moved away in December 2006.

Speaking of which, I’m in the process of looking at moving again. Locally this time. We’re considering going in with my Mother-in-law and getting a really giant old house. You know, the kind with all the old trim left. They just don’t make them like they used to. There are a few possibilities, but nothing sure just yet.

I’d like to find a winter beater so I can retire my SVX to summer-only duty. I also want to replace Meghan’s car with something newer and more reliable than a 17-year-old semi-exotic that was temperamental even when new. She’s a little bitter about it. Go figure.

I’m looking at used Mazda Protege5 or Chrysler PT Turbo as options, mostly because I can’t afford another Subaru that isn’t a base model, and Subarus don’t hold my interest unless there’s a turbo involved. Though I also found a used Mazda RX-8 for cheap… but then I’d need TWO winter beaters.

One of my housemates blew up his computer, so after frying my old system with his faulty power supply, we’re replacing it all with the guts from my current system, and I get an upgrade. I’m going from an Athlon X2 BE-2350 (2.1GHz, high efficiency) on a flaky ASUS AMD 690G-based board to an Athlon X2 4850e (2.5GHz, high efficiency) on what is supposed to be a very reliable and versatile Gigabyte AMD 780G-based board. I wanted one of the 790G-based boards, as they have better graphics, but the only micro-ATX board that I could find (DFI Lanparty) costs way too much.

Anyway, what makes even this new Gigabyte board so much better than my old one is that the onboard video is actually good enough to game with, thanks in part to 128MB dedicated GDDR3 onboard memory and a modern, if low-end GPU (ATi HD3200-based). As long as your taste in games is sedate or old (which is the case), the board packs enough punch that you don’t need a power-hungry add-in card. That helps keep temps down, which is key in a low-noise HTPC like mine. An additional upshot is that it will do what they call “Hybrid Crossfire” wherein you can link the onboard GPU to an add-in card and boost performance further. It still won’t be amazing, but then, I don’t play games like Crysis, so I don’t care at all. Basically, it will run everything I play now, or have played, and will continue to play for the forseeable future. As long as I can run Diablo 3 when it comes out, I’ll be happy with it.

I got some higher-end DDR2-1066 memory for this board, which with the CPU I have is overkill (it only supports up to DDR2-800), but if I decide to upgrade in the future to a Phenom-based chip, this setup can handle it. If I had the budget, I would have bought a Phenom 9350e (quad core, 2.0GHz, high efficiency), but by the time I upgrade, perhaps there will be more AM2+ compatible, high efficieny Phenoms to choose from. As of right now, the 9350e is the ONLY one, and at 65W TDP, it’s still more thirsty than either of the chips I have now, and costs twice as much.

I’ve been filling the rest of my time with RPGs, as usual. I’ve been running a Shadowrun campaign for about 9 months now, and I think that’s about to draw to a close before the year is up. I’m getting tired of running it and need a break.

So, after that, one of our group is going to run a 4th Edition game for us. I don’t have high hopes for it. The game might play just fine, and in fact, I’m sure it will, but I will never switch over to it. The terms of the new “GSL” or Game System License are ridiculously draconian, especially compared to the “OGL” or Open Gaming License that 3rd edition was published under. The OGL is like the RPG equivalent of the Open Source software movement, and like any other fiscally responsible, socially retarded company, Wizards of the Coast, under the iron fist of its master, Hasborg, is doing everything they can to close that little Pandora’s Box.

There are no solid plans beyond that. Meghan might run one of her games again. Or I might start a new D&D game. I’m leaning toward using a D&D 3.5-based system called Pathfinder, published under the OGL by Paizo (former publishers of Dungeon, and Dragon magazines). Basically it fixes a bunch of stuff that was wrong with 3.5, and despite the terrible artwork, it has great promise.

Bad art in the books has been an ongoing complaint of mine ever since WotC bought the rights to D&D and re-published the 2nd edition back in 1996. Not that all the chainmail bikini babes and Conan-ish warriors made better subject material than anthropomorphic creatures (whose females all have big tits and silly armour anyway), but the quality of how they were rendered has suffered. It used to be gritty, or glossy, but recognisably fantasy. Now everything looks like either anime or a comic book, and I hate it. Whatever it takes to sell books, I guess.

The only other thing I’ve been up to is expanding my music folder on my computer. I’ve been hunting down material from bands that I meant to catch up on 10 years ago. Some have been like revelations, while others have been an utter waste of bandwidth. That might make an interesting post all on its own…

Posted by Ron as Computers, Fire-in-a-can, Games, Home Sweet Home, Music, Work at 2:04 PM UTC

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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 UTC

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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 UTC

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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 UTC

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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 UTC

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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 UTC

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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 UTC

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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 UTC

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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 UTC

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