All posts by Brian

Unexpected vehicle maintenance

Personal, ,

Sunday was a nice day for February, 70 degrees with the sun peeking through the clouds. I figured it was a good time to rotate the tires on the truck, as the last time I did that was the end of summer. The boys were hanging out with me on the driveway as I started with the drivers side. Nothing out of the ordinary, it goes a lot quicker these days with the jack stands vs putting on the spare. As luck would have it though when I got to the passengers side front, the last wheel, something was a miss. The bolt connecting the stabilizer bar to the lower control arm had broken and I thought to myself “I wonder how long it’s been that way“. None the less it seemed like something I could take care of. And with a little work, it was.

From s10

I did a little research online and found AutoZone had front stabilizer bolt kits, $7.99 a piece. I called just to make sure the were on the shelf, as it’s about 15 minutes away, and they were. With parts in hand and back home I got to work replacing the bushings and bolt. First problem was getting the old stuff off. A little more difficult than I thought. With the bolt broken and the bushing spacer seemingly attached to the bolt I had to rip and tear the spacer from the bolt. With that done I decided to replace the other side, that wasn’t broke, but was just as worn.

Pliers in hand on the other side now I got a hold of the top washer and with a quarter turn of the bolt, it broke. I should have expected that but unfortunately I wasn’t prepared. The bolt was still long enough that I couldn’t pry it away from the mount and I wasn’t having any luck with the spacer. After way to long with the pliers and vice grips I headed to Home Depot for a Dremel attachment. I needed to cut the spacer and the bolt, the Dremel was just the tool but I didn’t have anything that would cut. After finding what I needed and back home it was getting dark. The Dremel did the trick but the next problem was the kit would fit. The stabilizer bar was to close to the lower control mount and I needed to collapse the wheel to get a little more room. I’d have to leave that for tomorrow.

After work this evening I was able to install the drivers side by jacking up the passenger side. The test drive was good and the front end felt tighter for sure. With any luck these will be good for another 225,000 miles like the originals!!!!

Skiing in Beaver Creek, CO

Personal, ,
From beaver creek 2010

Last week I took a few days off and went to Beaver Creek, CO which is right next to Vail. A buddy of mine had a house for a few days so it was a good opportunity to get in a little skiing. Even though Kay doesn’t ski she came along too for some R & R.

I got in Thursday afternoon we picked up ski’s and headed west on 70 to the mountains. We got to Beaver Creek just before dark made a stop at the grocery store and cranked up the hot tub, after adding a little water, and got ready for hitting the slopes in the morning. The picture on the right is sunset from the condo, a great start to a excellent trip.

Friday we were left around nine parked at the Bear lot and headed for the bus, unfortunately we were a little light. When packing the car we had forgot the ski polls so we headed back, luckily the house was only 10 minutes away. Back with everything in hand we headed to the Beaver Creek Lodge to get on the mountain.

It was a light day as there was a beginner in the group so after some teaching time we were off. We spent the day off the Centennial lift on runs like Cinch, Lagatigo, Gold Dust and and a few others. You can see the trail map on Beaver Creek’s site. We didn’t want to over due it the first day so we stopped about three and headed in for a beer.

Weather was excellent in the 20s, wind was light and snow was predicted that night. Back at the house we changed to head out for dinner at the Gore Range Brew Pub, a micro brewery in Edwards just a few miles away. We finished off the night with a dip in the hot tub before turning in.

Saturday we woke up to snow and it was a little cooler. On the mountain visibility was not good but the skiing was excellent again. We skied mostly on the Arrowhead mountain side on runs like Cabin Feaver, Springtooth, Little Brave and Golden Bear as it cleared up after lunch. Kay and a friend made it about 2pm as it was a slow drive on 70 due to the weather. We stayed in for dinner had pasta and another dip in the hot tub. Tomorrow is the NFL playoffs Bears vs Packers and Steelers vs Jets. No skiing Sunday we’d take a day off and get back out Monday before heading home Tuesday.

The weather on Monday was the best yet as was the skiing. We took a few runs up the Drink of Water lift, we hadn’t been there yet, hit Redtail a couple times and then made are way over to Arrowhead again . Some excellent runs over there where a few have short mogul sections, about 100 feet, that I took a stab at. It was a great day as the sun was out and temp was in the upper 20’s with a little wind.

It was my first trip to Beaver Creek and I’d recommend it to anyone. Snow was excellent, runs were great, people are friendly and prices reasonable. We did take advantage of a good deal on ski rental in Denver at Colorado Sports Rent. It was the first time I didn’t rent close to the mountain. Luckily there were no problems with equipment ski’s and boots were new for about half the price of demo’s at the mountain. Can’t wait to get to Breckenridge at the end of February, hopefully the weather is just as good.

To much time alone

Personal

Cooper, our golden retriever mix, was not a happy camper last night. He’s normally good for telling anything that he hear’s around the fence to go away a few times a night but last night it was worse than normal. Letting him get it out of his system is typically what we do. I might go out to make sure he knows all is ok if it gets bad but that didn’t work last night. So I broke down and brought them in the basement hoping him and Roscoe would relax and Kay and I could get some sleep.

When I went down this morning to check on them I found a surprise. It could have been worse as there was a tub of dog food, my hockey equipment, furniture, and a few other things down there. Copper, while curious, is not as nervous as Roscoe so if I had to guess Roscoe got impatient and went digging in the trash.

The good thing was no accidents to clean up. They are good about that but haven’t been in the house that long before or alone. Not sure we’ll do it again, might have to find another way to make sure Cooper feels safe.

My phone, my data or maybe not

Technology,

Read an interesting article about the IPhone and access to Microsoft Exchange Server email. The full article is Wipeout: When Your Company Kills Your iPhone and I found it on Slashdot. That seems a little extreme, but I guess when you think about it work email is the company’s not yours. I’ve yet to add work email setup to my phone. It might be another reason not to. I don’t have an IPhone, but Android phones have a MAPI email client for Exchange access, which is what mine runs. I’d have to assume it works the same way.

I’ll stick with browser access !!!

Short trip to Chicago

Personal,

Over the weekend Kay and I headed to Chicago for a wedding, a cousin of mine was getting married. We left Friday afternoon and came back late Sunday. It was good to see family, some it had been almost 10 years since I’d seen them. A few things that made me grin were;

  1. Mapping/navigation software isn’t always a good substitute for “knowing where your going”.
  2. I was young once and could go till the wee hours of the morning, now I just get to “hear” it from the room.
  3. Packing light, not checking bags, is the only way to go.

Even though I caught a cold it was good to see family. Their will be more of that with the holidays coming up.