July 2021

 July 2nd weekend – 

Susan and I were both off on Friday to start the weekend off early.  Our first order of business after feeding the dogs and coffee was to meet with a prospective buyer for Mia 2.  There had been quite a bit of interest in the car but only one person was willing to meet (at least so far).  

Rolando rolled up in a truck with wife and son to check out our car.  The son was extremely interested in cars and mechanical things in general so the parents were looking for a good project car.  The son was 15 so the plan would be that he could work on the car to learn about this and that before getting his driver’s license.  Susan and I thought this was great and, after a successful test drive, we agreed on a price and let Mia 2 go.  

Susan and I had picked Mia 2 from up north on a snowy evening back in February.  We paid $3,000 for the car which was a crazy-cheap price for a running Miata that came with a hardtop.  We ended up selling the car for $4,200 without the hardtop.  

We don’t normally come out so well when selling our cars.  We are hoping to be as lucky when we go to sell Tuna Bean in the nearish future.  

Upon our triumphant return home from we set about packing up for a weekend glamping at the track.  We decided against bringing a car with us which simplified our preparations.  

We pulled into our reserved RV spot when we arrived at the track and established “camp” in short order.  While we’ve now done this several times we still use a checklist to make sure we don’t forget anything.  Good practice and all that.  

We were positioned in front of the car ports and coincidentally almost directly across from the guys we sold Ralphie too (Jeff and Sean).  We ended up spending a lot of time over the weekend chatting about various racecar stuff.  

Dinner for us was BBQ.  I have concluded that I need to be a bit more thoughtful and patient when I BBQ using charcoal briquets.  After failing to lite the grill in the constant wind I doused the briquets in lighter fluid multiple times.  This in itself was fine but I made the mistake of starting my turkey burgers before said dousing.  The turkey burgers ended up very charred when the flames finally and literally died down.  Fortunately Susan’s hamburger was cooked well.  Also fortunate was that I was hungry enough not to mind a tough turkey burger.  

Saturday morning had us up relatively early to take care of the dogs and have our coffee.  We lazed about for a bit before finally venturing forth to wander about and film some racing.  

This weekend’s track-racing was hosted by the Colorado SCCA region.  Last year we had glamped over one of the SCCA weekends and were looking forward to seeing a lot of fast cars.  Unfortunately and, unbeknownst to us, this weekend was strictly a local event whereas the one we attended last summer was a “national” event.  There were far fewer cars driving around the track which was sad and a bit boring from a spectator-perspective.  We really didn’t realize the tenuous nature of our local SCCA road racing program until seeing it with our own eyes.  It is my belief that the program lost money over the weekend.  

Susan and I still managed to have fun during the day.  I drove our pit-scooter while Susan rode her bike this way and that.  We spent some time chatting with our pal Ryan Dussex who ran the Time Attack portion of the event.  In a start contrast to the rest of the groups the Time Attack sessions were busy with many participating cars and drivers.  Ryan has clearly figured out how to successfully market his chosen form of racing better than the rest of the region.  

Toward the end of the day the rain moved in.  Susan and I were riding out to our preferred place to film when the drops started falling.  We rode our rides back and forth on our path a couple of times as the intensity of the downpour ebbed and flowed.  We did manage to catch some footage of some cars driving around in the wet before retreating back to the RV for shelter.  Later we took some pictures at the front straight as the cars crossed the finish line.  

On Saturday night Susan and I strolled down to the pavilion to watch karaoke while we sipped our wine.  There weren’t many “singers” so we eventually signed up for a few songs.  It has been several years since we sang karaoke and we had a blast.  By the time the fun was over a decent crowd had gathered and everyone was singing along.  

Sunday morning started the same as Saturday with us eventually heading out to take film some racing.  We only filmed one session before we rode back to the RV to pack up.  Before we finally drove home we brought out the dogs to meet Jeff and Sean.  We love to show off our three little pups.  

We made a stop at KOA to dump our tanks on the way home.  There was no one waiting  behind us so we took our time in the process.  We were home by 1:30 to unpack.  

This weekend’s RV trip mostly went well except for one issue.  The fresh water smelled terribly.  After some research it seemed that some sulfur-producing creatures had set up shop in the fresh water tank.  Nothing dangerous but the odor was quite unpleasant.  It was the first time we had run into this stinky-issue and we now have to take some steps to correct and prevent it occurring again.  Such is the RV life.  

Our plan after unpacking was to prepare the house and garage for the next day.  Our general tiredness from our trip to the track had us forgoing any thoughts of productivity.  We spent the rest of the day on the couch with the dogs.  

Monday had us up early with an alarm to make up for the previous day’s laziness.  After taking care of the dogs and drinking our coffee I prepared food and started working on organizing the garage while Susan went out to pick up a birthday cake and other birthday accessories.  It was Karen’s 70th birthday and Susan had ordered a cake from King Soopers.  

Eventually Susan returned with the birthday cake and some other whatnots and we combined our forces to tackle the garage.  We spent quite a bit of time reorganizing and cleaning before declaring the job done.  

Karen and John arrived a little before 11:00.  We hung out inside before Kari and Alvin arrived.  We took the party outside to our patio furniture which Susan and I had shaded using one of our Easy-Ups.  It was hot but manageable with the shade.  

I BBQ’d turkey burgers and regular hamburgers which we ate outside along with some sides including my chicken salad and a spinach dip I’d whipped up that morning.  All of the food was yummy.  

Alvin and I peeled away to install a wideband O2 sensor in Scrappy and do some ECU tuning.  The installation part of the process took a bit longer than we expected but eventually the wideband was working.

We took a break to sing “happy birthday” to Karen and eat some cake.  King Soopers made us a fantastic cake which we all enjoyed.  Susan had ordered it half-vanilla, half-chocolate which pleased everyone’s palettes.  

Alvin and I returned to Scrappy to tune (or rather, I watched Alvin as he tuned).  During this process John and Karen left for home.  The only way to really know if a tune is correct is to put the motor under load so eventually Alvin drove Scrappy out onto public roads while I followed in the NC Miata.  There was no drama and we soon were back home to put Scrappy back in the garage before the rains came down.  

Kari and Alvin eventually hooked up their truck to one of their enclosed trailers and left to pick up some furniture.  Susan and I cleaned up the remnants of the gathering before heading inside for the evening.  

Kari and Alvin had brought Ember along who was a very good dog.  Oliver initially seemed interested in Ember but generally kept his distance.  Susan had to put Oliver away while we ate as he couldn’t keep himself away from the food.  Once we were finished and the food packed up Oliver was re-released and hung out with us while we were outside.  

It was a nice weekend for sure.  

July 9th weekend – 

Friday evening we bought a 2008 Pontiac G6 from one of Susan’s former coworkers.  The car checked a few boxes: it was cheap, could function as a winter-beater, and had the same engine we run in Scrappy (we can cannibalize the motor for the racecar if needed).  

I was all kinds of excited to see the car and it was everything I wanted.  A simple four-door car with brand new snow tires.  We were met on the street by their boisterous poodle mix named “Lennon” who was so happy to make our acquaintance.  We brought our jump pack as the car had been sitting long enough that the relatively new battery had died.  A short test drive alerted us to something being wrong with the clock spring and airbags but I didn’t mind.  The car drove fine otherwise and the motor sounded great.  We paid their asking price and Susan followed me home.  

That night I did a bit of research and the clock spring issues can be solved by replacing the clock spring which likely will also eliminate the airbag warning the dash was telling us about.  I ordered a new part which should take around 30 minutes to install.  I love the internet.  

Saturday morning had me up early to feed the dogs and have a cup of coffee before heading out to buy a few gallons of gas.  Once back home I fueled up the lawn mower and had at it.  

The plants were quite thick and full of moisture which had me stopping often to shake the mower to dislodge sticky clippings from the inside lest it clog up and stall.  Even with my efforts the mower died several times.  It was slow going but I didn’t mind.  I was close to finishing when Susan came out with some water and to let me know that her grandmother had died.  

Norita was close to 97 years old and had been living in a nursing home for the past several years.  The expectation was that the service would be held next weekend.  

Susan left and then returned to join me in finishing up.  She sprayed thistles and collected pre-flowering heads.  

Kari had reached out to Susan regarding our afternoon plans and, as ours weren’t finalized, invited us up to her house to help with some projects.  This sounded fun so we hoped in the NC and drove up.  

There were three projects Kari was looking for help with: coating a stump with acrylic, assembling a bar, and laying down cardboard over some vegetation.  It was nice to be helpful and we chatted about this and that.  

We talked much about Ringo and how he needs to be treated.  Ringo is a very friendly dog most all of the time.  He is incredibly smart and Susan and I have never seen him act out in any way.  Ringo does have issues with unfamiliar people and cannot abide certain forms of “playing” (mostly he does not do well with teasing).  If triggered he becomes a different dog and will bite.  Ringo has had a lot of training but, in this area, training people has been most successful in keeping Ringo in check.  

Alvin was supposed to be at drill for the weekend but ended up coming home in the late afternoon.  His day was to be full of family activities but Alvin was not told of it so Kari didn’t know to come along.  Super bummer.  

We were winding down our project efforts when Alvin arrived.  We had mostly done what we set out to do with the exception of laying down the cardboard (we had gone as far as prepping the cardboard).  

Earlier we had eaten frozen pizza and chicken salad but were hungry again.  Alvin suggested Texas Roadhouse which sounded good to the rest of us so he called ahead and we left.  

The restaurant was packed and we elected to eat outside as the weather was quite pleasant.  The food was alright but the company better.  There were several children running around in the grass and playing loudly.  What can one do?  Maybe if the outside seating continues to be a thing Texas Roadhouse can construct a play area for the kids.  

We split up after dinner and drove the rest of the way home.  The dogs were very happy to see us.  

Sunday morning had me sleeping in.  Susan fed the dogs which was nice for me as it’s hard for me to get back to sleep if I take that task.  Eventually I got up and thought about being productive.  I decided I’d had enough of that for the weekend and I stayed on the couch.  Susan eventually joined me and we had ourselves a lazy-Sunday which was very nice.  

July 15th weekend – 

On Thursday morning we were up early to finish packing.  I had been trying to get the new G6 plated so we could drive it to Kansas but couldn’t finish in time, so we loaded up the suburban instead.  This worked out better anyway as there was plenty of room for the dogs and the truck is relatively pleasant to drive (we didn’t like the 15MPG the truck achieved on the highway though).  

We left the house before 9:00 to start the trek which was uneventful and relatively quick.  The suburban has a large gas tank and, even with its poor fuel mileage, we may have been able to make the journey on one tank each way.  We didn’t feel like risking being stuck on the side of the road so made a stop in Hayes for gas and lunch.  We arrived at our hotel right behind Karen, John, and Kari who had driven out together.  

Funny story about their trip.  

John has made the drive enough times that he has his directions memorized and has no need for GPS.  Unfortunately road construction closures meant he couldn’t take his normal route.  The construction worker he asked for a way around directed him to a non-county maintained dirt road.  This “road” eventually devolved to John and company basically being in the middle of a corn field.  Things were looking bleak but eventually John found their way onto a proper road again.  The detour and ordeal cost them quite a bit of time which is why Susan and I arrived at the hotel right after they did despite us leaving later.  

After we checked into our hotel room Susan and I walked up to John and Karen’s room to hang out with them and some extended family who also came to town for the funeral services.  They were Karen’s cousins and were fun to meet and chat with.  One brought a pile of old pictures which were interesting to go through.  

Eventually we all went to a fancy Italian restaurant for dinner.  Our party was to be 15 strong so the staff had several tables pushed together for us.  In the end Carol’s side of the family didn’t show up for inexplicable reasons which was ok with the rest of us.  While the service was slow the food was yummy.  We had a great time talking about this and that.  

Kari hung out in our hotel room after dinner before retreating to John and Karen’s room for the night (she slept in their extra bed).  

Friday morning we woke up early to take care of the dogs before walking to the hotel lobby for breakfast and coffee.  Susan ate some French toast bread wedges and I had some cheesy omelets.  Before too long we had packed up our room and drove over to the Catholic church for the services.  

The church was large with high ceilings and many stained glass windows.  A bit garish in my opinion but I suppose I don’t know what to expect in a Catholic church.  

We sat down a couple of pews back and experienced the rosary followed by mass.  I believe this was my first exposure to the rosary.  I was impressed with the amount of call and return from the minister and congregation.  The repetition seemed endless though and I might have dozed off if it wasn’t for the hotel coffee in my system.  Truly it was an interesting experience and I was happy to be there to support the family.  

We exited the church after the services were over and I, along with Kari and others, acted as a pallbearer to help load the casket into the awaiting hearse.  

We had left the suburban running with the air conditioning blasting so the dogs had a safe place to stay while were in the church.  This situation was another reason we had taken the suburban.  

Soon we joined the other vehicles in the funeral procession on our way to the cemetery.  There was a pleasant graveside service followed by some family pictures.  The burial plot was located near the edge of the property where the cemetery bordered an open field providing a lovely view.  

Eventually everyone went their separate ways.  Susan and I took a few minutes to change into our traveling clothes before leaving.  We made a brief stop for lunch and gas before proceeding on the drive back to Colorado.  

It was another uneventful trip and we arrived home before 7:00.  After unpacking we plopped onto the couch for the evening.  

Saturday and Sunday were largely the same in that we didn’t do a whole lot.  The high temperatures outside were demotivating so we used the days to decompress from the Kansas trip.  I think the dogs were happy to have us hanging out with them for the rest of the weekend.  

The following Wednesday I received a surprise call from a delivery hub informing me that the lift I had ordered several weeks before had arrived and was ready for pickup.  My surprise was due to me never being emailed a tracking number so I didn’t know that the lift had even shipped.  Whoops!  

After work I hooked up the open trailer to the suburban and headed up to the ABF located in Denver.  The process to get the lift wasn’t particularly difficult or noteworthy I suppose.  I told them the tracking number I had been given earlier in the day and showed them my drivers license.  A guy brought out and deposited the lift on our trailer with a forklift.  I added some tie-downs though I wasn’t terribly worried about the 1,800lb load falling off. 

Once home Susan helped me back the trailer right up to the garage and we used our hoist to unload the lift.  This was quite an ordeal but eventually we managed to move the lift into the garage.  

July 23rd weekend – 

We had taken Friday off to go to the track for a weekend of glamping but, because the lift arrived earlier than expected, decided to work on the garage instead.  The first order of business was RV-related though, specifically the RV needed its emissions done.  

We were up early and at the emissions place a bit before 8:00 for our appointment.  We were their first emissions appointment of the day and we were in and out before 8:30 which was great.  Of course, the RV passed with no issues whatsoever.  

Since the RV’s fresh water didn’t smell so “fresh” during our last trip we spent some time sanitizing the tank during the rest of the day.  We had added bleach the night before and, after running water through all the pipes, emptied the tank before refilling it again.  We did this multiple times throughout the day to clear out the bleachy smell.  

For the majority of the day Susan and I worked on organizing the garage.  It was very hot which added difficulty to our efforts, but we made good progress.  I also moved one of the wall hardtop mounts and we swapped out Tuna Bean’s hardtop.  With Tuna Bean about to go up for sale Susan had suggested we keep the top that came with the car as it was in far better shape than the other red top that came with Mia 2.  

After swapping out Tuna Bean’s hardtop and jumping the battery we took the car to our favored car wash.  In the almost three years since we’ve owned Tuna Bean this was only its second car wash.  While I was spraying off the car I had a mini-crisis in my resolve to sell the car and, for a few minutes, convinced myself that we should keep it.  Thankfully I came to my senses later and Susan posted the car to craigslist.  We are hopeful that Tuna Bean sells quickly.  

The temperatures outside on Saturday were blessedly cooler which made our continued efforts at organizing the garage much easier.  Susan and I made piles of things on tables, in bins, and on the ground.  Over the last four years we’ve accumulated quite a lot of car stuff.  We also still had a few things from when we moved in which was disconcerting.  Not a shock but kind of sad.  

We had set aside a decent pile of donations by the early afternoon so loaded up the G6 and headed to Goodwill.  After dropping off our undesirables we stopped at Walmart for stuffs before going back home.  

Our plan was to continue doing our thing in the garage but we decided to call it after we got home.  Instead we hung out on the couch for the rest of the day.  

On Sunday we were back in the garage before 10:00 to keep on keeping on.  We had made fantastic progress the day before and were finally able to put things back on shelves.  Susan suggested we look for shelf organizers so we hopped in the car to find some.  

Our first stop was at Harbor Freight but we didn’t find what we were looking for so we went to Home Depot where we found much more success.  We bought various organizing goodies and headed home to put them into use.  

We didn’t spend much more time in the garage before retreating inside to hang out on the couch with the dogs.  When we felt hungry for dinner we went out to BBQ on the grill and sit in the shade.  It is simply amazing how comfy it is to sit on the east side of the garage on hot afternoons.  We love our home.  It was a nice way to finish out the weekend.  

On Thursday Susan picked up a temporary foster pug from the animal shelter.  She came with two other names but I thought she looked like a “Munchy” so that’s what I call her in our home.  Munchy is a sweet old fawn pug.  She is deaf and has somewhat limited vision.  Munchy seems to have a collapsing trachea and could stand to lose five or six pounds.  The plan now is for us to keep her for a week or so until a permanent foster can be lined up.  

July 31st weekend – 

This weekend was largely tough for Pebbles and Bella who both caught some sort of gastrointestinal bug.  Susan and I had to clean up many unfortunate messes and the poor pups were clearly unhappy.  Susan bought rice, chicken, and cottage cheese which she mixed up to create bland meals.  We watched a lot of Olympics and largely hung out on the couch with our beleaguered dogs all weekend.  

On Sunday afternoon we went to Saltgrass to celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary.  It is hard to believe we were married so long ago.  We feel so lucky to have each other and look forward to the next 18 years together.  

On Monday morning we took Bella and Pebbles to the vet for poop-testing which led to pills.  My knee-jerk belief was that our temporary foster had brought something into our home but it turned out that the likely culprit was Pebbles eating rabbit turds.  *sigh*  We were relieved for the diagnosis but Pebbles seemed far worse for wear for the remainder of the day and would not take her medicine.  

We are confident Pebbles will recover soon.  She just seems to need a bit more love and attention than Bella, who already seemed to be back to normal on Monday night.  Fortunately Mel completely missed catching the same stomach bug as Pebbles and Bella (with her larger size and larger “deposits” the messes would have been far worse).  

Our plight to sell Tuna Bean continued at the end of July.  The car is still up for sale but we’re hoping to have it gone soon (we actually received a cash deposit which is a first for us).  

August is the month before our next Lemons race so we expect we’ll be busy preparing for that.