Sunday, March 23, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
blasted pcv valve
I was so excited this morning when I woke up. An entire 2 days off of work! I had my nice jog, changed the oil in Amanda's car, mixed coffee grounds in my compost pile to make better compost and then proceeded to break my truck.
I thought it would be a good idea to check under the hood and check fluid levels, belts and hoses. In doing so, I wiggled my breather hose going to the pcv valve on my right valve cover and it snapped right off. Blood and bloody ashes Moraine. First I had to figure out what I broke. I look in my little Haynes manual and figure out it's the pcv valve. At first it looks like I have to take the entire valve cover off, but a quick call to the father-in-law and some more looking in my Haynes manual tells me that it should pull right out. Ummm, no. Not happening. I ended up destroying it taking it out. The pcv sits so tightly inside this rubber grommet on the valve cover that it was a curse fest getting it out. I actually said the Queen Mother of all swear words trying to get it out...usually I'm a bit more patient.
Now onto getting a suitable replacement. I call Autozone and they have one in stock and I run down there and buy it. I try to install it and ....what the dilly o, it's too small?!? It doesn't fit in the grommet. Alright, so I call the dealership and see if they have one because I've ran into problems before with fuel filters that Autozone just doesn't carry the right one even though they think it's right.
So I run over to the dealership and pick that up. I get out to the car and realize the dealership gave me the same part as Autozone. Blast! So Autozone is right and I have 2 of the same part and neither one fits in the grommet in the valve cover. So now what? Great. Am I telling them the right part that I need replaced? Am I telling them the right vehicle information...year, make, engine size and so on?
I stop back home and look at my Haynes manual again hoping that I missed some brilliant line of wisdom or that by some chance I'm wrong and that the pcv valve from the dealership fits into the grommet. Nope. No dice.
Now at this point I'm getting desperate. I've destroyed my original piece and the two replacements I've found don't work. And it's a saturday so the dealership closed at 1pm so now I'm stuck until monday. I decided to try a third parts store in town and they guy ended up telling me that the pcv valve from both Autozone and the dealership was correct. Dang! However, he did have grommets! He ended up selling me a grommet, to go in my grommet to hold my new pcv valve.
Now onto the installation, which is not the reverse of removal in my case. I spent quite a while trying to figure out do I put the pcv in grommet 1 and grommet 2 and then jam the whole assembly in there. Or do I put grommet 1 in the valve cover, put the pcv in grommet 2 and then stuff those two into grommet 1? The problem was that the grommet grommet fitting was so tight, and the new pcv was an L shape, so I couldn't make it happen. I ended up turning the L into an I and jamming it all in there.
The right thing to do was to get the correct grommet, but according to the guy at store #3, he only had it in stock in a store 2 hours away. I could have probably waited until monday to go to the dealership and get the right grommet, but, eh, I needed to get it working and didn't feel like waiting.
So hopefully my jimmy rigged pcv valve will hold up.
I thought it would be a good idea to check under the hood and check fluid levels, belts and hoses. In doing so, I wiggled my breather hose going to the pcv valve on my right valve cover and it snapped right off. Blood and bloody ashes Moraine. First I had to figure out what I broke. I look in my little Haynes manual and figure out it's the pcv valve. At first it looks like I have to take the entire valve cover off, but a quick call to the father-in-law and some more looking in my Haynes manual tells me that it should pull right out. Ummm, no. Not happening. I ended up destroying it taking it out. The pcv sits so tightly inside this rubber grommet on the valve cover that it was a curse fest getting it out. I actually said the Queen Mother of all swear words trying to get it out...usually I'm a bit more patient.
Now onto getting a suitable replacement. I call Autozone and they have one in stock and I run down there and buy it. I try to install it and ....what the dilly o, it's too small?!? It doesn't fit in the grommet. Alright, so I call the dealership and see if they have one because I've ran into problems before with fuel filters that Autozone just doesn't carry the right one even though they think it's right.
So I run over to the dealership and pick that up. I get out to the car and realize the dealership gave me the same part as Autozone. Blast! So Autozone is right and I have 2 of the same part and neither one fits in the grommet in the valve cover. So now what? Great. Am I telling them the right part that I need replaced? Am I telling them the right vehicle information...year, make, engine size and so on?
I stop back home and look at my Haynes manual again hoping that I missed some brilliant line of wisdom or that by some chance I'm wrong and that the pcv valve from the dealership fits into the grommet. Nope. No dice.
Now at this point I'm getting desperate. I've destroyed my original piece and the two replacements I've found don't work. And it's a saturday so the dealership closed at 1pm so now I'm stuck until monday. I decided to try a third parts store in town and they guy ended up telling me that the pcv valve from both Autozone and the dealership was correct. Dang! However, he did have grommets! He ended up selling me a grommet, to go in my grommet to hold my new pcv valve.
Now onto the installation, which is not the reverse of removal in my case. I spent quite a while trying to figure out do I put the pcv in grommet 1 and grommet 2 and then jam the whole assembly in there. Or do I put grommet 1 in the valve cover, put the pcv in grommet 2 and then stuff those two into grommet 1? The problem was that the grommet grommet fitting was so tight, and the new pcv was an L shape, so I couldn't make it happen. I ended up turning the L into an I and jamming it all in there.
The right thing to do was to get the correct grommet, but according to the guy at store #3, he only had it in stock in a store 2 hours away. I could have probably waited until monday to go to the dealership and get the right grommet, but, eh, I needed to get it working and didn't feel like waiting.
So hopefully my jimmy rigged pcv valve will hold up.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
catching up
What's new? I've been working a crapload. The current project I'm on ships next thursday to England. We had the customer over for a week and I entertained them part of the time by running tests for them on the system they are buying. The one guy said "bugger" once when we where having trouble getting two traces to display on the spectrum analyzer. It was tough not to laugh out loud. He also said funny things like "spot on" when a measurement was good. Typically I'll say "dead nuts", or "that's tight" or "good". He didn't say "God say the Queen!" (although I almost did once) or "cheerio" though. I was just a bit let down.
Watched a couple of movies lately...last night we watched "Wayne's World". I saw it in high school, but that was years after the original came out and everyone was quoting it. I was behind the cool curve on that one. It had it's moments, it was funny. Seeing the flames on the Gremlin make me wish I still had my Festiva. I shoulda put flames on it when I had it. I wish I never sold it. I'd put flames on it if I still had it. Yes I would.
It took me three sittings to watch "The Chronicles of Narnia". I fell asleep 30 minutes into it (at 9 pm last saturday night) the first time, then the next sitting I had to go to bed....then I finally finished it wednesday night. It was pretty good. When I was watching it I wondered why do all the evil characters have to be ugly? There were one eyed things and trolloc look-a-likes and wart covered things...and they were all evil. The good side had the lion, the unicorn, the phoenix, the jaguars, the beavers...all these pretty animals. I did like how the wolves had American accents and the good guys had British accents.
We had a blizzard today. I don't know what exactly constitutes a blizzard, but it happened. I shoveled a boatload of snow. Although we have nice neighbors with snow blowers who do the sidewalks sometimes.
Watched a couple of movies lately...last night we watched "Wayne's World". I saw it in high school, but that was years after the original came out and everyone was quoting it. I was behind the cool curve on that one. It had it's moments, it was funny. Seeing the flames on the Gremlin make me wish I still had my Festiva. I shoulda put flames on it when I had it. I wish I never sold it. I'd put flames on it if I still had it. Yes I would.
It took me three sittings to watch "The Chronicles of Narnia". I fell asleep 30 minutes into it (at 9 pm last saturday night) the first time, then the next sitting I had to go to bed....then I finally finished it wednesday night. It was pretty good. When I was watching it I wondered why do all the evil characters have to be ugly? There were one eyed things and trolloc look-a-likes and wart covered things...and they were all evil. The good side had the lion, the unicorn, the phoenix, the jaguars, the beavers...all these pretty animals. I did like how the wolves had American accents and the good guys had British accents.
We had a blizzard today. I don't know what exactly constitutes a blizzard, but it happened. I shoveled a boatload of snow. Although we have nice neighbors with snow blowers who do the sidewalks sometimes.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
week update
I had monday off as a holiday, but I made up that time at work tuesday through saturday. I'm feeling the deadline pressure looming. My boss asks me "Are you feeling the pressure?" I replied "Yeah" --in a 'you ain't fricking kidding, dude' tone. He responded "Good." It's hard to explain, but it was a healthy work conversation. My workload, like everything else in life, is like a sinusoidal wave and right now I'm headed to the maximum amplitude point of the curve. So I'm tired, but hopeful and not worrying.
Although it really sucks only seeing my kid for 30 minutes in the morning and maybe 30 more at night. That's the hardest part of being a parent so far.
The best part about today was after I left work I picked up X from Amanda at her sewing class and went over to Barnes and Nobles and bought a magazine and a Tazo green tea from Starbucks (gross drink --do not get this!) and sat a read and X slept. When Amanda came by after her class and picked us up I felt so refreshed. It was like I took a nap.
Although it really sucks only seeing my kid for 30 minutes in the morning and maybe 30 more at night. That's the hardest part of being a parent so far.
The best part about today was after I left work I picked up X from Amanda at her sewing class and went over to Barnes and Nobles and bought a magazine and a Tazo green tea from Starbucks (gross drink --do not get this!) and sat a read and X slept. When Amanda came by after her class and picked us up I felt so refreshed. It was like I took a nap.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
cake
I smashed a piece of cake in my wife's face tonight while she proofread our city taxes. It was really, really funny.
What do you know, our camera worked perfectly!
What do you know, our camera worked perfectly!
catching up
Hey, I'm still here. I've been working a crapload of hours lately (including saturdays) and haven't had much time for fun things like blogging. However, thanks to the holiday weekend, I have some extra time.
I just finished our taxes. Boy, when you have a kid and a house you get a crapload of money back. I was skeptical about that, so that was a pleasant surprise. When are you going to be able to file city taxes online?
I'm a single parent today. Momma's off at a sewing class so I'm in charge. Xander was being crabby so I put him down for his evening nap. The screaming stopped so I think he's asleep. It was only 5-10 minutes of yelling. It's good that it only lasts that long. Maybe we'll go for a drive later and go to the carwash.
So for Lent I decided to give up sweets. At first I decided to just limit myself to only one per meal, but then Amanda and I were talking and I felt guilty and inspired at the same time so I chose to give up sweets altogether. It hasn't been to bad, except last night when we sat down to watch 'Live Free or Die Hard' and Amanda sat down next to me chomping on a candy bar. I did take advantage of the 'you can have what you give up for Lent on sundays' idea this morning after mass. They had free coffee and doughnuts after mass...and let me tell you, that was one of the BEST doughnuts I've had in a long, long time.
Live Free or Die Hard was a good movie. I didn't realize the Mac guy from the Mac vs PC commercials was in it. He was pretty good. I kept waiting for him to say something Mac-oriented, but he didn't. It was a good action flick. I think I'd most likely put Bruce Willis on my tough-guy list. The semi-truck vs fighter jet was a silly scene, so was the bit in the elevator shaft. It was all realistic up until then :)
I just finished our taxes. Boy, when you have a kid and a house you get a crapload of money back. I was skeptical about that, so that was a pleasant surprise. When are you going to be able to file city taxes online?
I'm a single parent today. Momma's off at a sewing class so I'm in charge. Xander was being crabby so I put him down for his evening nap. The screaming stopped so I think he's asleep. It was only 5-10 minutes of yelling. It's good that it only lasts that long. Maybe we'll go for a drive later and go to the carwash.
So for Lent I decided to give up sweets. At first I decided to just limit myself to only one per meal, but then Amanda and I were talking and I felt guilty and inspired at the same time so I chose to give up sweets altogether. It hasn't been to bad, except last night when we sat down to watch 'Live Free or Die Hard' and Amanda sat down next to me chomping on a candy bar. I did take advantage of the 'you can have what you give up for Lent on sundays' idea this morning after mass. They had free coffee and doughnuts after mass...and let me tell you, that was one of the BEST doughnuts I've had in a long, long time.
Live Free or Die Hard was a good movie. I didn't realize the Mac guy from the Mac vs PC commercials was in it. He was pretty good. I kept waiting for him to say something Mac-oriented, but he didn't. It was a good action flick. I think I'd most likely put Bruce Willis on my tough-guy list. The semi-truck vs fighter jet was a silly scene, so was the bit in the elevator shaft. It was all realistic up until then :)
Monday, February 4, 2008
addendum
I would like to add to my rant from yesterday that I think Wes Welker of the Patriots would have deserved MVP honors if the Pats would have won. His performance was phenomenal. That little squirt is unstoppable.
We had another fun Home Depot trip this weekend. Bought a hot water heater blanket, an AC cover, a peephole and some wood to build some rolling storage bins under the basement stairs. We also picked up some paint for the master bathroom. We are going to paint it Lauren's Lullaby, which is light pink.
The only problem is I'm not finding too much time to work on my favorite project which is building my little storage area with drawers on wheels in the basement.
Funny thing: while at Home Depot searching for casters for my rolling bins, I asked a HD employee where the casters were and he replied "What's a caster?". I was really surprised, 99% of the time they know exactly what I ask.
Still no hot dog vendor at HD.
We had another fun Home Depot trip this weekend. Bought a hot water heater blanket, an AC cover, a peephole and some wood to build some rolling storage bins under the basement stairs. We also picked up some paint for the master bathroom. We are going to paint it Lauren's Lullaby, which is light pink.
The only problem is I'm not finding too much time to work on my favorite project which is building my little storage area with drawers on wheels in the basement.
Funny thing: while at Home Depot searching for casters for my rolling bins, I asked a HD employee where the casters were and he replied "What's a caster?". I was really surprised, 99% of the time they know exactly what I ask.
Still no hot dog vendor at HD.
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