I was able to get a bunch of stuff done in the basement last night; looking at it this morning didn’t reveal any major changes, but a lot of my time was taken up by cutting and fitting the finish trim to fit as best I could. Both side shelves are cut, fit, and tacked in. The closet interior is framed out save the mullions for the doors. The kickplate all the way around the room is tacked in with the exception of the one piece on the northeast wall. I installed the other access panel for the water shutoff, and the second stairway light, as well as swapping out the bad wallplate switch. Mostly what remains is buying or milling a bit more wood, sanding, and some massive staining and polyurethaning. There’s some finish painting that needs to be taken care of, another round or two with the caulk gun, and a bunch of touch-up in the stairway, but we’re drawing closer.

I also had the pleasure last night of hearing five short blasts from a ship’s horn, clearly audible from the front basement window. That was great. I love living near the water.

This is some sad news… I suppose I’m going to have to upgrade sometime to Win 2000- probably my next machine. I love my NT though. I guess I should really worry about getting myself a new Mac before that happens, though…

Update on the Scout: I called the owner, and told him I need some time to get the cash together; He’s completely cool with it, and told me to give him a call when I can move on it. He was ready to bring the title home to me in a few weeks. So I just have to bust ass to get the cash together. The Tortoise had another (this will be #3) bad tire; Mike switched it and swapped rims (apparently the right front was not the only rim to be bent- the right rear was too) and cleaned the throttle body out, which should take care of the bad idle.

I found some pictures of some clean Rallye Scouts from the 2001 IH nationals; at some point I’ll post them up here, just to keep myself motivated. The one to the right there is the first, and the spitting image of the one I’m looking at, save the running boards and white spoke wheels.