December 2004
12312K4
Got my car back yesterday after paying $900, and they kept calling it a Grand National. At least they swapped out all of my vacuum lines for free. It rides smooth as hell now; stiff, but smooth. It's nice to finally be able to stomp on it at 70 without getting body roll.
12302K4
I was going to talk about my insane father -- a self-proclaimed prophet of the Lord -- today, but I think I'll save that for next month. Instead, here are some World of Warcraft screenshots:
My Tauren Druid Dethlocke sitting and dancing on the undead throne, being the king of rotting corpses that I am.
Here's a raid group that was forming at the Crossroads. There ended up being two full groups and part of a third (I think), and they went and kicked every ounce of shit they could find out of everything that looks like it may be associated with the Alliance in one way or another.
Here's another shot of that crazy mob. I should have gotten a shot when they were leaving, because then they were all together, but I had to fly away:
This windrider looks pissed, probably because he has a ton or so of biped cow on his back.
The Hulk + Saddam Hussein post-capture + Goku = my new Orc Warlock Rezor.
We were accused of talking behind Jason's back. We'd never do that.
Getting my groove on with some Orc slut.
Things started getting pretty hot here.
Goddamn nerds.
Some Floridians are such pussies. It's December, and it's not very cold because it's Florida. There was a cold front a while ago, and the coldest it got around here was 36~. I think. I don't pay much attention because it's always humid no matter the temperature or pressure. During one of the worst parts of that cold front, I was riding in the fastest Ram SRT-10 in the world with both windows down, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, blasting down US441, and it wasn't that bad. Right now it's probably about 65 degrees out, and people keep coming in wearing jackets and sweat pants and sweat shirts and sweaters and rediculous hats and all kinds of shit. I can only guess that their reasoning involves a train of logic following somewhat accurately that, if it's December/Winter, then it's time to justify spending all that money on cold weather attire.
People -- mostly women -- ask me the same question all the friggin' time during Winter months: "Aren't you cold?" I wear denim shorts and a t-shirt all year, because it's never really cold enough for me to want to wear anything more. After all, I don't spend a lot of time outside where it may be cold at one brief moment or another. It's like 85 degrees in here and I have a woman all bundled up like a damn eskimo asking me if I'm cold. She probably was when she walked outside into the "cold" weather and all that sweat began to evaporate.
Granted I'm a big, wooly fatass who doesn't get cold until the 'teens, but that's besides the point.
On Christmas eve when I went over to my aunt's house my other aunt was asking why I didn't have a jacket or something on. I said I wasn't cold (this gets really annoying with family members, by the way, since they've known me my whole life and should probably know by now that I don't get cold very easily), and she replied with, "Really? Boy, I think it's cold outside!" I said, "Yeah, me too [not really]. But I'm not outside. It's fine in here." At that, "But you have to go outside when you're coming and leaving!" "Yep, for about eight seconds, to and from the car." Then the expression on her face changed, like she had just had a revelation and found new meaning in her life of swill and pablum: If you spend most of your time inside, and almost none of it outside, then it really doesn't matter if it's cold outside and there's no point in dressing like you anticipate another ice age in the coming few hours, especially in Florida. Who would've thought.
12272K4
I've had this crazy headache for three days now. It sure is pissing me off.
Here is a table listing my Christmas haul, with message board emoticons indicating something that I haven't been able to apply a word to because my head hurts, and comments on each of them:
| 15~ golf-style shirts |  |
This is what my head feels like right now. I think my grandmother is just trying to get me to stop wearing this worn-out Daytona Bike Week t-shirt I have on right now. Holes just show character. And skin. |
| A bunch of low-cut socks |  |
Nothin' wrong with that. |
| $10 gift certificate for Taco John's |  |
Taco John's owns. |
| A coaster |  |
It's not even a set of coasters. It's just one coaster. I don't know what my aunt was doing the moment she decided to get me a friggin' coaster for Christmas, but it was probably some good shit. |
| Homie's Mints |  |
Yup, definitely some good shit. She should have hooked me up with some of that, instead. |
| 89 piece tool set | |
It's some brand I've never even heard of, but I needed a set for inside stuff that requires tools not covered in engine grease. |
| $25 |  |
No bullshit gag gifts or shelf trinkets from my great uncle. Just cash. Always a plus. |
| $200 |  |
Free rent this month. |
| A neon martini lamp |  |
I had a martini when I was on a cruise this summer. As punishment, I got a neon lamp thing. My aunts thought it was hilarious. I don't get it. |
| Stale popcorn |  |
I'm not a bird. |
| Starburst jelly beans |  |
I bought these for myself, and my headache started around the time I started eating them. |
| A custom airbrushed license plate |  |
Picture. |
| Clear license plate cover | |
To protect it from bugs, road grime, small animals and children. |
| Steering wheel cover |  |
It's black with some weird red flame/tribal design. I don't know how it'll look in the car. I guess I'll find out when I get it back from the slow-ass shop.  |
| LL Bean t-shirt | |
My old blue LL Bean t-shirt is now a pile of oil rags, but it was good to me. My aunt got me this one to replace it. |
| A Swiss Army-type pocket knife | |
Always good to have on hand in case of a string needing to be cut, bottle or can needing to be opened, lock needing to be picked, nail needing to be filed, kidney needing to be stabbed, on-chip embedded self-timed system delay line needing to be dynamically recalibrated, etc. |
| Sweat shirt |  |
I have enough of them stressing the hanging bar in my closet to its limit as it is. |
| Bar, dumbell bars, weights and weight rack | |
My dad got me these. Now I need a bench. |
I'm probably forgetting something.
7-11 has a new sandwich that's like the McGriddle minus the grease. It's
.12222K4
After trying and failing to fix my brakes, with air in the MC/lines and multiple vacuum leaks, gaskets blown, oil-soaked hoses and stripped bolt heads, I drove my car to the shop Monday night around midnight with no brakes, and whooped Jason's mustang's ass while I was at it.
WoW isn't a bad game. Not nearly as boring as FFXI, and I don't run into as many hardcore nerds as in EQ. The people without jobs are leaving me in the dust, though.
12162K4
Last night I made a Tauren Pimp named Dethlocke on Dethecus. I'm only a level 9 pimp but my pimping and dealing tradeskills are damn near maxed out, and I'm about to go for my MC secondary tradeskill. I was dueling some level 10 Orc gangsta and he thought he had me for a moment, until I hit him with a rank 3 bitchslap and two yo-mama disses, and finished him off in melee with my 50 skill points in pimp canes. Bitch best reco'nize next time.
12152K4
Ramchargers.com still hasn't shipped my fucking vacuum block.
Next week I'll probably be getting a new GT3255 turbo. It's supposed to be the most badass street turbo there is, making more power than the TA49, more low and mid power than the TE44 and spooling just as quick as the stock turbo on the stock stall converter, or so they say. Or I might wait until it's been around long enough to gather more information than what the vendors are putting on forums, and use a TA49 until then.
The dual ball bearing GT turbos were appealing, but I don't want to spend over 2 grand on a turbo, and then have to run water lines for cooling.
Update:
I was searching around and found a vacuum block on kirbanperformance.com for $34 as opposed to $50, and an adjustable fuel pressure regulator for $105 as opposed to $120. They also had a vacuum block gasket for $2. I canceled my order with ramchargers.com and ordered that stuff I just mentioned from Kirban. With next day air it cost the exact same as it did from Ramchargers with 2nd day and no gasket ($180), and less than an hour after placing the order I received a tracking number.
Fuck Ramchargers.
12132K4
My electric brake booster stopped working on my way home Wednesday night. That sucked! The stock pedal doesn't have enough leverage to stop it without a booster, so even standing on the brake pedal didn't do much. I managed to get home without hitting anyone, though. Then, Saturday and Sunday I enlisted the help of a few friends who, unlike me, can actually fit their arms up under my dash, and replaced the pedal, booster and master cylinder with a vacuum system. I didn't realize that I needed a new vacuum block for my throttle body, though. Those fucking things cost fifty bucks. I had to grab an adjustable fuel pressure regulator while I was at it, and, after paying for 2nd-day shipping, ended up shaving 3/4 of a paycheck.
I spent the rest on reserving a copy of World of Warcraft, which I should be getting sometime this week. It looks like an MMORPG I'd actually enjoy playing. I'll be on the Eastern PvP server Dethecus with the Horde, bitches.
12062K4
Driving has been made much more interesting now that my Powermaster brake system is on its way to obscurity for me as it did for GM over a decade ago. The electric pump started making a lot of noise and leaking at 95,808 miles. I'm surprised it's lasted this long. I ordered a used vacuum conversion kit for $135, and hopefully the POS will hold out until the package arrives.
12022K4
Today I ordered myself a few Christmas presents: a crankcase-turbo oil bypass kit with a K&N breather and a 160 degree thermostat with an aluminum billet housing for about 60 bucks with shipping. I chose ground shipping so, by the time they get here, it should be Christmas, and I'll probably have forgotten that I ordered them so it'll be a surprise, too.