I Void Warranties

I want this shirt. I like to make my own things, and fix that which breaks. NPR has an interview with Mr. Jalopy. The interview is really rather interesting. There's an artist, Nemo Gould, who says

A lot of average suburban men would have a metal lathe in their garage. That's something you can't even conceive of today. But it was sort of common. ... 'Oh, well, if my lawn mower breaks, I'll want to fix it, won't I?'

That's the kinda guy I want to be.

Mr. Jalopy is part of the Maker movement. Basically people who want to feel like they actually *own* their own stuff. Do you really own something that you can't take apart and fix, upgrade, or modify? Or are you just renting the thing? Mr. Jalopy feels that the ability to perform such actions on the things you purchase is what really defines ownership. I think I'd have to agree.

Take the example of my car. It's a 1995 Nissan Maxima. Not so recently, the key I had broke off in the lock. And since the key doesn't work in the passenger door (for some strange reason) my only option was to leave my doors unlocked so I could actually get back in it. Or pay some extreme price to have the door fixed. Since I wasn't too fond of that option, I decided to take the trim off and see if I could fix it myself. I had to do a lot of work on it, but with very little problems, I was able to take the door off and figure out how to fix it.

Not because of the inherent design, but because I've had quite a bit of experience now with making repairs I'm not supposed to.

Actually, I'd like that shirt better as a hat, so I could wear it when I'm voiding warranties.

Quick Blog

Well, I'm just posting this quick little blog. I watched this neato cheeto thing on TV about the science of laughter. It was really neat. And funny. I just finished watching the Colbert Report, it was rather amusing... I laughed at it, too :D

I'm super excited for tomorrow, because my geekheart will be coming to visit! Freakin' Sweet!

Also NAPA auto parts has the bushing for my car... so I'll creep my way down the boulevard and back, to pick it up. I'll also swing by Fuller & Son to see if they have any T nuts and some screwy type things so I can fix my girls' table.

Maybe I'll even post some pics.

I also made an instructable. Check it out!

Eureka!

So... I believe I've figured it out.

What exactly, have I figured out? Well! What the difference/problem/etc/etc has been, is, will be, blah blah blah.

Also I had a peculiar dream where I made out with someone and her kisses tasted like chicken I think. Randomness, and very weird. *mutters things darkly about kissing*

Back on track - what I figured out - I have been searching for both a friend and someone to love/care about. But I wanted to build up the friendly bit first, because hey, who the heck screws over their friends? Well, apparently that's not the type of relationship anyone has been interested in. At least anyone I've been after.

So it's kinda neat to realize that. Mainly because I know the problem, so I know what it is I have to look for. Oh man, I also had a dream that J had a new pic on her xanga/blog... weird. That definitely was a dream, it's almost been a month (again) since she's written anything.

But yeah... during the YSA activity I talked to some girls... but you know, it really doesn't seem like anyone is interested in making friends. And that's really my problem, because I don't have any/that many. I mean really. Some people grow up, and they have friends that they hang out with, and they love their friend and are loved by their friends... Oh sure, they may not say anything to that effect, but the emotions and fulfillment are definitely there.

I've never really been like that. I've never really had any friends that I've hung out with. And I think I know why, but I'm not sure. When I was a young child (read 5 or 6ish?) a girl kissed me. And I fell in love with her. Honestly, I wanted to marry her. As I think back now - sure there was some lack of knowledge, but yeah, I pretty much wanted to marry her. Well she moved away, and long story short, now she's married to some other guy and never wants to talk to me. Ever again. Yeah, that hurts a lot, even still - I mean I really loved this girl. But my problem? I wanted to be her friend first, not the romance in her life.

But like I was saying, I don't really have any/many friends. Why do I say that? There are about three people I would consider my friends, but I rarely talk to them. It's been over a week (or two++) since I've talked to any of them. One... we don't always have much to talk about, which is sad, because she's a really cool person, and really intelligent... but we don't do a whole lot. The other one, we can usually converse (she's more religious than the first - that gives us a few more topics/lines of conversation). Then the last one is a guy, and we haven't really talked for over a month, so it's like whatever, ya know?

Then there are other people who could be considered friends, depending on your definition. But when I define friends, it's someone who helps you be your best. It's someone who inspires you to be better in some (or all) ways. It's someone who's there to listen to you, and there when you're in trouble, but they're also telling you how much they disprove of your actions. Not in an insensitive way (usually), but they do let you know "I love you, but I'm not going to watch you act so stupid. I know you're not stupid, so try acting your intelligence, por favor." More or less.

So there are a few other kids you could call friends, owing to some different circumstances, they're not able to be there. Which is kind of a pity, really.

But I don't have anyone that I could just go over and hang out with, or they'd just randomly pop over and visit. No one. There was one like that, but that dummerkopf had to go get himself killed last October. Jerkface.

So I've got no real friends, no one to hang out with, no one to just call on the phone and chat with... *sigh*

that's what I need but these dumb girls are looking for someone to be romantic with first. They don't understand that romance blossoms from the bed of friendship, not the other way around. I mean sure it might be possible, but I don't like doing things backwards like that...

meh... anyways, now it's time to eat breakfast, and go work on my freakin car.

later.

*sob*

So... as I was leaving to go to work, about a mile from my house... Ka-PLOOIE!

My car died :(

crushing all my hopes and dreams...

Expletive!

So... I finally got the transmission in the car.

But now the clutch doesn't... clutch enough.

Ehhhhh!

I think I'll cry. Goodnight.

Bleep, clang, CUT, grease, squash. Tired.

A transmission fell on me yesterday.

What, you may ask, was I doing under a transmission?

Simple - I was changing the pressure plate and clutch in my 1985 Toyota Tercel (that one looks better than mine.

Wednesday afternoon I started pulling parts off of my car (after jacking it and securing the wheels with chock blocks. Wednesday at 11:30pm we gave up and called it a night, got degreased (mostly)and went to bed. Thursday, 8:30 AM I went to work for Pure Cleaning. We went to a house on Kavanaugh Blvd, and tore off a bunch of ivy, cleaned some windows, and I got home around 7:30pm. Then at 9 we (my Dad and myself) went back under the car. The transmission is VERY greasy. Finally we got tired and gave up around 12:30am. I took a shower and fell asleep around 1:30am.

This morning my dad woke me up at 6:30 so we could leave to go to Toastmasters so I could use his truck to go to work. Because mine is on blocks, ya know? So this evening we'll (hopefully, prayerfully) finish putting my car back together and then we'll be going to T's band concert.

Then at 5:30am my parents have to be at the airport because they're going to Utah to see my nephew/their grandbaby. And we (T and myself) need to be at our church at 6 or 6:30am because we're going on a youth temple trip to the Memphis Temple.

It's going to be a long weekend.

I hope I don't die...