From Can’t Get Much Higher newsletter, a list of the 18 best Podcasts About Music. This is basically a Venn diagram of my favorite things. Many of these I’ve never heard before and am excited to dive into; some of these I’m already familiar with (Reply All, Heavyweight, 60 Songs that Explain the ’90’s) but demand a repeat listen.
I was walking down the stairs of my parking garage, lost in my own thoughts, when a peculiar sight stopped me dead in my tracks. A single Marine, in crisp dress blues, stood in front of a hookah bar, saluting a bouquet of flowers. I struggled to pull my camera from my bag before he finished, but was only able to snap off one shot before he spun on his heel and marched away.
His dedication to his fellow soldier, and the bitter irony of the dead Marine’s story made me appreciate my life that much more.
The 4th of July Parade is now history, and the Lockardugan clan is officially tired. As happens every year, we kick ourselves into overdrive for about two weeks prior to the event in order to get everything ready, so when the day of the parade arrives we’re already waiting for it to be over so we can go back to bed. We did use some discretion and hire out a cleaning service for the house, which made preparations much easier, and Mr. Scout installed a working sink and toilet on the first floor, which Finn officially christened the morning of the parade.
This year we had a great turnout, with lots of old friends we haven’t seen in years, along with parade stalwarts and first-year virgins. The parade itself was good but not quite as weird as we are accustomed to; the shriners, republicans, and dixieland groups all made their customary appearances, but there was no Jesus banner, there were no Mummers, no strippers, no cockroaches, and there was only one step band. I spent a lot of my time keeping an eye on Finn, keeping an eye on the house, and actually watching the parade, so I didn’t shoot nearly as many photos as usual (and really, how many ways are there to take pictures of the same thing) but I did spend time watching my daughter, sitting happily on a big-girl chair by herself, smile, clap and wave as the parade rolled out in front of her.
Peer Pressure is home, and it’s like driving a completely new Scout. She fires up on the first turn of the key, idles smooth, smells good (for a 34-year-old carbureted engine), and doesn’t backfire when my foot comes off the accelerator. I ran errands early this morning, then drove her into work, and I don’t reek of exhaust and gasoline. I cannot describe how happy all of this makes me.
And, the problem was not with the float bowl itself; it was with two little O-rings which were actually supposed to be X-rings, and were not even in the carburetor when he took it apart. Stupid O-rings.
→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.
Still Scoutless. The plastic (technically, phenolic resin) main bowl of the carburetor is so old that parts of it have worn away and are allowing fuel to pool after shutdown, making any sort of adjustment impossible. So my mechanic is trying to source a new (used) bowl to replace it.
Verizon Wireless needs to go bite a bag of dicks. They have been spamming me at least five times a day and for some reason their spam makes it through my filters. I DON”T WANT YOUR WIRELESS SERVICE, YOU DON”T HAVE THE PHONE I WANT. Leave me alone, please.
This week is getting out of control, so we’re interviewing a cleaning service tomorrow afternoon to have them work on the house while we’re getting everything ready for the party. I’ll have you know Jen was planning for the party in April (possibly March), and we still feel like we’re behind the 8-ball. Grrr. However, I put the mister together last night, and it works perfectly.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that federal and state-based handgun bans are unconstitutional, nullifying bans in cities across the country. I find myself torn between the two schools of thought here; on the one hand, I respect and appreciate my right to keep and bear arms, and I intend to exercise that right sometime in the future. (Last night, before I even knew about the ruling, I had a dream where I walked into a gun store and shopped for a pistol. I tried out revolvers and small automatics that didn’t fit my hand, finally settling on something that looked like a Glock.) On the other hand, I have several cousins who are uniformed policemen. I have nothing but respect for officers of the law, and I appreciate the impossible job they are faced with daily. Therefore, I do not agree with and cannot abide the NRA’s assertion that anyone should be able to purchase assault rifles, teflon bullets, or other military-grade hardware legally. Furthermore, I think the federal government should man up and write strict country-wide rules for the sale and purchase of guns, so that cities like Chicago and New York, who are struggling with controlling guns purchased out-of-state, can better police themselves.
→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.
Today’s weather is a little less like being in the moist maw of Hell and more like being in actual summertime, which is a nice break. Unfortunately, our basement humidifier, which has been going strong since about 2005, decided it had finally enough and began to make louder and louder rumbling noises as the compressor cycled on and off. Things started feeling a bit stickier down there, and a recent reconnaissance of the litter boxes revealed some fuzz that doesn’t usually belong there. So I got up early this morning and hit the Lowe’s for a new unit, and picked up some extra parts for a mister I’m going to set up at the parade party. It’s essentially a 3GPM mister head hooked up to a set of 1/2″ PVC piping via garden hose, with a ball valve to turn it on or off. The only thing I haven’t been able to figure out is how to get it standing elegantly; I’ll probably just use a couple of pipe clamps and attach it to a wooden spike in the ground, and then wrap that with some foam pipe insulation to protect little hands and feet.
It looks like our Scout recovery mission will be postponed until tomorrow. I was really hoping to have it back tonight, but as of 4PM the carb gasket isn’t on yet, and I don’t want to rush the delicate job of tuning such a delicate instrument. As much as I am impatient to get it back, I’m also glad it’s getting worked on by a pro who knows what he’s doing, and who can tell me important details about what I’ve got (would I have known, without any other reference, that the gasket was too thick? That it was a heated choke and not an electric choke?) so that I can learn to do it myself.
I also violated the cardinal rule of buying stuff off of Craigslist the other day, which states Thou Shalt Hasten Thy Hiney To That Which You Might Purchase. (The second is, obviously, Thou Shalt Bring Cash But Leave It In The Car, and the third is Thou Shalt Always Check Out The Address On Street View To Avoid Highwaymen). I found a used trailer hitch for the CR-V for the unbelievably low price of $20 on Monday and made arrangements to see it on Wednesday, but apparently someone stopped by on Tuesday and stole it out from under me. I’ve had good luck in the past with people stacking buyers based on the order of their call, but this guy apparently just wanted his $20 and took it from the first person to stop by. So I’ll have to keep looking.
→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.
1. We have plumbing in the new (old) half-bath on the side porch! Mr. Scout and his plumber hacked, sawed, and felled a 300-lb. cast iron vent pipe from the side of the house, replacing it with a temporary in-wall unit until after the 4th of July. This morning, after delivering Finn to daycare, I picked up a new toilet and sink from the Gucci Lowe’s. They will get installed tomorrow along with the door and some temporary drywall to make a functional bathroom for the parade.
2. The carburetor on the Scout is being assembled as I type, and hopefully I will get a call this evening with an update and the go-ahead to pick it up. Which is good, because we have new piles of debris to haul away from the house.
3. I made a few edits to the files here on the site in an attempt to speed up pageloads. Let me know if you see any difference (it’s that little link to the left that says “comment”).
4. Plans are afoot for a vacation stay in the Outer Banks in September right around Finn’s birthday. We have a house picked out with a stunning view of the beach and a lovely in ground pool for the girl to splash around in. We are excited to have something fun to look forward to.
→ This is a syndicated post from my Scout weblog. More info here.