Another busy day. I was supposed to go out with a few of my new ‘mates’ and watch the
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Day Three
Day Two
I had a busy day at work so I just had time for dinner and no sightseeing. I ended up at a dive because all pubs look like dives from the outside. When I went in and ordered the locals at the bar stopped all conversation and looked at one another with expressions that said “WTF?” and “a damn bloody Yankee is in here!” Those wankers were smirking to themselves and it was quite funny.
I ordered bangers and mash and a Carling. The Carling was a good tasting beer. And of course the bangers and mash came with peas. Everything here comes with peas or chips (fries).
I ordered bangers and mash and a Carling. The Carling was a good tasting beer. And of course the bangers and mash came with peas. Everything here comes with peas or chips (fries).
Day One
Day 1…
the flight over was good. Not much to talk about if you’ve flown on a plane before. Although it was my first time on a 777. I had a night flight so I landed at Heathrow at 11am and caught about 3 – 4 hours of sleep on the plane, after a full day of Easter Sunday activities. Surprisingly, I wasn't too tired. My mind must be running off of excitement of being overseas for the first time and reading the Harlan Coben book, “The Innocent” (very good book, almost done!).
I get my passport stamped and grab my bag off of the carousel. Which, by incredible luck, was there on the carousel after waiting there for 10 seconds; that’s never happened before.
I ended up getting a new wallet for this trip, one that is slimmer, holds less and goes in my front pocket (to avoid being pick-pocketed). The width of the billfold works just barely for dollars, but of course, was not designed for the pound which is a full half inch taller than a dollar. The lady at the exchange counter suggested I get a new wallet, thanks but…
Aaaah, now onto the rental car. I get on the shuttle bus to go to the rental agency and try to enter the bus on the wrong side. See, if you didn’t realize, inEngland
I finish up at the rental agency and get situated in my Vauxhall Vectra with a 6 speed manual transmission and GPS. I take extra care in ensuring that the mirrors are adjusted correctly, I know where the turn signals are located, the wipers, my maps; all this extra effort to ensure that my brain is able to focus more attention on driving on the left hand side of the road.
I pull out with the rental car and end up stalling it three times before realizing that I’m trying to take off in 3rd gear. Blast! The gear shift locations are in the same locations on vehicles on either side of the pond; my only problem was my left hand's inability to know how to put it into 1st gear. I was afraid I would end up putting it into reverse, but finding reverse will be another adventure to tell you about later.
The devil is in the details when it comes to driving on the left. This means that nearly everything is opposite, stuff you wouldn’t even think about (at least I didn’t):
the flight over was good. Not much to talk about if you’ve flown on a plane before. Although it was my first time on a 777. I had a night flight so I landed at Heathrow at 11am and caught about 3 – 4 hours of sleep on the plane, after a full day of Easter Sunday activities. Surprisingly, I wasn't too tired. My mind must be running off of excitement of being overseas for the first time and reading the Harlan Coben book, “The Innocent” (very good book, almost done!).
I get my passport stamped and grab my bag off of the carousel. Which, by incredible luck, was there on the carousel after waiting there for 10 seconds; that’s never happened before.
I ended up getting a new wallet for this trip, one that is slimmer, holds less and goes in my front pocket (to avoid being pick-pocketed). The width of the billfold works just barely for dollars, but of course, was not designed for the pound which is a full half inch taller than a dollar. The lady at the exchange counter suggested I get a new wallet, thanks but…
Aaaah, now onto the rental car. I get on the shuttle bus to go to the rental agency and try to enter the bus on the wrong side. See, if you didn’t realize, in
I finish up at the rental agency and get situated in my Vauxhall Vectra with a 6 speed manual transmission and GPS. I take extra care in ensuring that the mirrors are adjusted correctly, I know where the turn signals are located, the wipers, my maps; all this extra effort to ensure that my brain is able to focus more attention on driving on the left hand side of the roa
I pull out with the rental car and end up stalling it three times before realizing that I’m trying to take off in 3rd gear. Blast! The gear shift locations are in the same locations on vehicles on either side of the pond; my only problem was my left hand's inability to know how to put it into 1st gear. I was afraid I would end up putting it into reverse, but finding reverse will be another adventure to tell you about later.
The GPS was a godsend. I would have gone crazy trying to get out of Heathrow with out it.
So once I was trundling merrily along headed to my hotel, this is what my vantage point was driving:
The devil is in the details when it comes to driving on the left. This means that nearly everything is opposite, stuff you wouldn’t even think about (at least I didn’t): - The exits are primarily on the left
- Faster traffic travels on the right
- Your blindspot is now on the right
- Looking in your rearview mirror requires you to look to the left (that’s a tricky one!)
- The wipers go from left to right, not right to left
- When I drive, I have a tendency to slouch to the right…I can’t do that now. Well, I have to slouch to the left instead.
- The guy inside the round-a-bout has the right of way
- Parking the car is difficult
- The seatbelt is on the left
Once I was settled in my room I took a walk and here are some pictures.
Danger! Speed cameras!
A road like this, is called a dual carriageway. Look out for buggys!
This whole left hand side driving hoses me up in another category: crossing the road. I don’t know if you are like me, but when I’m in America and I cross the street I have a tendency to first look left as I proceed across the road, then when I reach the median I look to the right to ensure I’m not going to be Froggered. This is a problem in the
Once I got across it took a few minutes before I stopped laughing at myself.
For dinner I walked to a restaurant across from the hotel. When I ordered the 7oz fillet, the waitress confirmed my order by saying ‘the phil-ett’? Yes, the phil-ett, with a Stella Artois to wash it down.
Baked potatoes are referred to as jacket potatoes.
There and back again
I had a little work trip to England. It went okay. Fortunately we finished most of what we were to do there, but unfortunately I'll have to go back over there in a month or so to wrap up the program.
There are so many things to tell you about this trip. I knew I'd have so much to blog about when I returned that I'd have trouble remembering so I kept a little journal to update this blog when I returned. But in the meantime, here are some highlights in no specific order....
Driving on the other side of the road is something else. I am sooo happy that I ordered the GPS with the car, otherwise I don't think I would've been able to leave Heathrow without going insane. Needless to say I was only honked at once as I was leaving Heathrow.
They don't have light beer over there. Here, if you sit down in any bar there are so many light beers to choose from. Over there, just real beer. It's good beer too. I had ale for the first time as well. I'm not a big ale fan. It tastes like stale flat beer. It must be an acquired taste. And everywhere I went it was ordered by the pint (or half pint). There was none of the 12, 16 or 20 ounce choice. Here's 2 pence, gimme a pint. It's straightforward. That's how ordering and drinking beer should be.
I tried to survey the people of England and see if they were fat like Americans. You know what? They are fat like us. I didn't see anyone that needed to use a wheelchair to get around, but there were obese folks there. The locals that I was working with said that England is more like the US when it comes to obesity, but the rest of Europe is not. So, we are infecting Europe 1 country at a time.
In the city I was in, I liked the fact that I didn't see restaurant chains. Oh, I saw the McDonald's, and Domino's and Burger King's, but for local food, everything was different. Every pub was different. They all had Fosters and Carling on tap and either a football (soccer) game was on or BBC was broadcasting. I liked the uniqueness of the pubs.
So I'll post on here the events of the days that I recorded.
Cheers mate!
There are so many things to tell you about this trip. I knew I'd have so much to blog about when I returned that I'd have trouble remembering so I kept a little journal to update this blog when I returned. But in the meantime, here are some highlights in no specific order....
Driving on the other side of the road is something else. I am sooo happy that I ordered the GPS with the car, otherwise I don't think I would've been able to leave Heathrow without going insane. Needless to say I was only honked at once as I was leaving Heathrow.
They don't have light beer over there. Here, if you sit down in any bar there are so many light beers to choose from. Over there, just real beer. It's good beer too. I had ale for the first time as well. I'm not a big ale fan. It tastes like stale flat beer. It must be an acquired taste. And everywhere I went it was ordered by the pint (or half pint). There was none of the 12, 16 or 20 ounce choice. Here's 2 pence, gimme a pint. It's straightforward. That's how ordering and drinking beer should be.
I tried to survey the people of England and see if they were fat like Americans. You know what? They are fat like us. I didn't see anyone that needed to use a wheelchair to get around, but there were obese folks there. The locals that I was working with said that England is more like the US when it comes to obesity, but the rest of Europe is not. So, we are infecting Europe 1 country at a time.
In the city I was in, I liked the fact that I didn't see restaurant chains. Oh, I saw the McDonald's, and Domino's and Burger King's, but for local food, everything was different. Every pub was different. They all had Fosters and Carling on tap and either a football (soccer) game was on or BBC was broadcasting. I liked the uniqueness of the pubs.
So I'll post on here the events of the days that I recorded.
Cheers mate!
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.
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