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My Almost-daily Journal |
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| About I love trying out new things, especially when it comes to internet technology. I never really kept a journal, but it's something that I've always wanted to do. Now, everybody will get a chance to look inside my twisted, and somewhat-warped mind.
I've also subscribed to Audio Blog, so a few times a week, I'll leave actual voice blogs. Very cool!XML Newsfeed  |
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Automotive Industry = Dog-Eat-Dog The automotive industry is a dog-eat-dog world. It's the only industry in the world, IMHO, that you can do your best, put in 80 hrs/week, get home at 2am on some nights, bust your ass, make intelligent decisions, practice customer-obsession, and still get blamed for f$#%-ups that aren't even your problem. Witch-hunts, fall-guys and scapegoats are the name of the game in my industry. It's definitely a good ol' boys club. It's not what you know or how well you do it... it's who you know. My problem is that I don't have an uncle in the automotive business, and everything I achieved, I achieved on my own. And because of this, I am proud. My reputation speaks for itself. I have no idea what it means to get a lucky break. I work in a bureaucratic workplace where it doesn't matter if you make the best possible decisions for the company or your customer. It's a dog-eat-dog world where I work. Let's see what the following week yields. The ONLY thing I have going for me is my reputation. posted by Dino at 9:13 PM (permanent link) Tuesday, March 23, 2004
DIY is for the Birds My brakes have been on the fritz the last couple of days. Sloppy brake pedal and decreased braking were the first signs. Initial inspection revealed a low master brake cylinder (MBC) rear brake reservoir. At first, I thought my MBC was going bad. I almost bought a new one. I took a closer look and noticed the brake fluid in the rear reservoir looked like mud. Bummer... water in the line. Not good. To my amazement, the front brake reservoir looked clear. I kept the MBC stocked with fresh fluid. Where was it going? There were no leaks... until two days ago. Voila! Culprit discovered! Rear passenger side brake made a puddle of mud in my garage. Must be the brake cylinder. Today, I purchased two new rear brake cylinders (might as well do both), rear brakes, and a spring kit. I got home around 5pm after a belated appointment with the barber. I did not get in until now, 10:30pm. I'm an engineer, car-buff, do-it-yourselfer, and a weekend mechanic. I have done 50 brake jobs in the last 15 years. I consider myself a veteran. I have every tool possible to deal with brakes, including the dreaded rear brake drums. And you know what? I still despise doing rear brakes! Too many damn springs and components that need to be assembled exactly like they were designed. And then there's the rear brake cylinder. It's a simple cast "tube" with two plungers and some seals. Two bolts take them off. The simplicity is ironic... a simple cylinder coupled to a menagerie of springs, shoes, clips, and other assorted crap that never goes back as easily as it was disassembled. @#&$*#@%! Anyone that has done rear brakes knows where I am leading... the damn flare nut that's connected to the brake line. That had to come off to remove the brake cylinder. Ten years of corrosion and wear was my enemy tonight, not to mention a falling sun and rising moon. I snapped the #$@#@#& steel brake line. For some reason, I knew this was going to happen. Why wouldn't it? It's happened to me on the last 49 brake jobs I have done. Why not today? I guess I was hopeful. Dealership closed... @#&$#@! So my only other option was to buy straight line and try to bend it. So I bought a bending tool (I love buying tools, even if I only use them once), and tried to copy the bends of the original line. Yeah right. The line was too long. Figures. So now there's an extra foot of line that hopefully won't get cinched between the rear axle and my Jeep's body. Oh well. Has anybody tried doing rear brakes in the dark? It's something that I wouldn't wish upon my enemies. It's not a pleasant thing. Six back-breaking hours later, my Jeep is back together and working better than ever (I don't think I put the components together correctly the last time I changed my shoes). I still need to commit some time to do the other side, just as preventive maintenance. And, I eventually want to buy the correct line and completely drain and replace the fluid. Water in the line is a terrible, terrible thing. Steel brake lines have a tendency to corrode from the inside out. Not a good thing. Lessons Learned 1) Don't attempt to even change a light bulb on a non-weekend day. Something will always break that will take 5000% longer than you originally anticipated. 2) Don't start brakes after high-noon. Absence of light is a terrible thing. 3) Make sure you put a spare vehicle BEHIND you when jacking your vehicle in the driveway. Putting everything back together just to move a vehicle out of the garage is wasted time. 4) Buy every single component that touches the system you are trying to fix. Chances are, you'll bust an adjacent component. 5) Penetrating oil, torches and molten lava will not break free a flare nut from a brake line over 12 months old. I'd like to slap the cock out of the person's mouth that designed that piss-poor serviceable part. It's not serviceable. 6) Last but not least... doctors fix humans, and mechanics fix cars. Sometimes it's best just to take your junk for experts to fix. If you're not broke, and don't take a lunch to work, spend the money and drop off your POS to an expert. There's better uses for six back-breaking hours of labor. posted by Dino at 11:21 PM (permanent link) Monday, March 22, 2004
Belated Postings I know... I know... it's been a while since I posted anything on my Blog. I know people are just dying to see what's going on in my life these days. LOL. I really have been burning the candle at both ends. Work has been pretty intense at Decoma, and I've had the most web work ever with Filias Consulting. Too bad there can't be a nice balance. My life is either redlining at 14,000 RPM's or idling at 1,500 RPM's. Wedding Planning Wedding planning has slightly picked up over the last few weeks. I'm dying to just cross things off of our to-do list. We've selected a pastor to marry us. We met with him a few weekends ago at his church in New Baltimore. I'm not a religious guy at all, but the pastor really impressed us. Basically, he's against the strict "closed door" policy of many religions with their "strict doctrines". Let people be spiritual in their own way, not how some non-married monk feels one should be spiritual. We've now finally nixed the idea of getting married in a Greek Orthodox church. They don't allow "vows" to be spoken there. Per the Greek priest, "Greek Orthodoxy does not believe in vows. You're not making a committment to each other... you're making a committment to God." That's the biggest load of BS I've ever heard. I'm making a committment to Danielle, and vice-versa. Not to God. And because they couldn't "sway" their strict Greek Orthodox doctrines, it's enough for me to never return. And you guys wonder why I am so anti-organized-religion. We've also decided to get married outside! I am so excited. It's perfect! I don't want to be bound by the walls of some stuffy church. I want to be married outside, with birds chirping, leaves falling, cool breeze in our faces, etc. It's exactly what I've always wanted. Now we just need to hope that it's not raining or snowing. :) Registering... I remember rummaging through countless stores over the past ten years, buying wedding gifts for all the important people in my life. Well, it's payback time! It's finally our turn! Be on the lookout for Crate-n-Barrel, Marshal Fields, and Bed Bath and Beyond! Danielle can't wait to get a crock-pot. I can't wait to eat my cereal with a $5 spoon. These are exciting times! The rest of the to-do list is growing exponentially as Oct. 2 creeps up closer and closer. We still don't have a DJ, a dress, tuxes, a limo (don't think we'll need one), flowers, etc. It's mind-numbing. PhotoFrank is going to be our photographer. He's a great guy. I think I'm convinced to go fully digital. I need to do a little more research to convince myself. I'm a digital kinda guy, but I'm a little reluctant... I don't know why. Plus, Frank is kind enough to just download the entire day to us. No proof sets to worry about... no $30 charges for one 8" X 10". It's nice. We're in charge of our photo destiny. Find any professional photographer that will hand over the entire proof set. House Hunting Danielle and I finished off our weekend with a full day of house hunting. We didn't go out with a realtor. We did our own research on the MLS. Eventually, we'll probably ask a realtor to take us around, once we decide exactly where we want to live. We found many trade-offs this weekend. You have to decide if you want land or a house. Nice land=shitty house. Great house=shitty land. At least in our price range. And the farther north you go, the cheaper the houses get. We ended up around 35 Mile and Rochester. Dirt roads and horse dung are still prevelant way up there. But the drive... damn the drive. We may as well just buy a house in Higgins Lake... the drive to work would still be the same. Danielle, my trooper, is willing to make the sacrifice buying a house closer to my work. Her drive is going to be a chore. That's the update for now. Life is good. posted by Dino at 12:26 PM (permanent link) |