Saturday, July 27, 2013

July 27th

We went out and got supplies (supplies!), and I stuck a few strips of asphalt roof sealant to the inside of the van's door - the idea is that this changes the resonant frequency of the panel, and should make the van a little quieter.  I'm going to play with this and probably try it on the rest of the panels as and when I have to do something to them.  I sealed the edges with metal tape, so that if it gets hot, it won't droop down.  Having done that, I buttoned the door up again.

In the evening we watched "Thale" - an odd Norwegian movie that was obviously dubbed by people who were really, really bored by the time they got to the final take :o)

July 26th

We watched "Oz the Great and Powerful" - it ties in well with "The Wizard of Oz", and was quite enjoyable.

July 25th

Vic went to put some gas in the Jeep, and came back with the check engine light on.  It seems that the gas cap was open, too - so likely somebody had been trying to siphon gas at her work (it's unlikely that they'd try when it's in our garage when the DRZ is right next to the cans.  The light didn't reset when we went to get the van (it can take a while, from what I've read), so she took the bike to work.  That meant I got to fire up Torque on my tablet to interrogate the ECU to see what the problem was - P0440 - General Evap System Failure means I'm calling it the gas cap, even though there's a fault (P0457) just for that.  I reset the error, and we'll see if it comes on again.

In the evening, Gwen came over to pick up an old window air conditioner that's been sitting in the garage for years, and we went and got some dinner.

The sliding door on the van is playing up, so I took the panel off and found it's the rod that connects the handle to the rear latch.  I don't know why it got stuck, but it's working fine now.  I'm not going to put it back together, as I want to get some stuff to play around in there.

July 24th

Stephan called to say the van's ready, so tomorrow we'll get up early and go and collect it.  I bet Tilly's too excited to sleep - she misses having the van in the garage.

Monday, July 22, 2013

July 21st

I went over to the airfield, dragged the hangar open, dragged Ken's Quicksilver out of the way, then pulled the Flightstar out.  I thought I'd put Ken's plane back in the hangar, then when I got back, I'd put mine in the front, but in moving it I hurt my back.  A lot.  I sat down for a while, and it didn't get any better, so I tried sitting in the Flightstar, and that wasn't too bad, so I figured I'd try a circuit to see if I could at least fly while I got over it.  It was too bouncy, really, so I was hurting myself trying to fly, so I only did the one circuit and put everything away, carefully, then rode home, carefully.  Vic looked at my back and there's a bit of swelling, which isn't a good sign.

We then watched the OK, but not great MotoGP race from Laguna Seca, and just took it easy for the rest of the day.

July 20th

After doing my Warcraft daily quests and going for a cycle, we went to see "Pacific Rim" with Gwen.  It's a pretty good flick, and I was especially impressed that there was a man and a woman, and they didn't have a romantic interlude.

Friday, July 19, 2013

July 19th

We went to dinner with Vince - he's been hiding from the heat, and working on (a different) Vic's Kolb - he bent the undercarriage in a heavy landing.

July 18th

I spoke to Stephan about the van - it seems that pretty much all the air conditioning hoses are rotting away.  Basically as they replaced a couple, leaks sprung in other (28 year old) hoses.  I just said screw it and told him to replace them all... everything should be new then.  Oh, and I asked him to look at the wheel bearing that's been leaking grease for ages (after being overtightened when it was installed).  Might as well have nothing on my squawk list when I get it back, eh?

July 17th

I was aiming to go to the EAA member meeting after we'd been to the vet with Aidan, but that took hours - they had a couple of emergencies while we were there, and ended up closing around us.  Still, I got to ride the DRZ with it's new tyres.  It feels a little skittish, but I'm blaming that on the release compound on them - they should be fine once they're worn in a little more.  I pulled up at a traffic light on the way home, and a Hardley Dangerous pulled up next to me.  I nodded to him, and he did the theatrical "look away" thing that a lot of these pricks do.  So I felt no compunction in blowing him into the weeds (on my dirt bike (o:) when he gunned it when the lights changed.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Monday, July 15, 2013

July 14th

I just wasted the whole day, so sue me.

July 13th

I managed to get the wheels finished on the DRZ (though I'm a little unsure about the speedo drive's placement), and go for a cycle ride.  Yay me.

July 12th

I started installing the wheels on the DRZ.  Sheesh, that's a lot more hassle than on the Hawk :o)

Friday, July 12, 2013

July 11th

Jeff called to say that the DRZ wheels are ready, so Vic picked those up on her way home (I have no transport, other than my bicycle at the moment).

In the evening, we watched "A Good Day to Die Hard", which was entertaining enough.  Somehow I missed "Live Free or Die Hard" though.  Yippie ki-yay, mofos.

July 10th

We dropped the van off at Stephan's to have a pile of work done on the front end.  He was talking about having it back for Friday, but I told him there was no rush, so he can take his time.

July 9th

Vic dropped the DRZ wheels off wit Jeff on her way to work.  Jeff's been really busy since his wheel balancing machine broke, so he'll get around to them when he gets around to them.

July 7th

Just a lazy day, with nothing much achieved.  If only I had more time for more days like this :o)

Sunday, July 7, 2013

July 6th

It wasn't so crazy hot, so hopefully that spell's broken, but I was still pretty tired from all the recent fun.

We did go flying in the evening, but just did a couple of circuits as it was quite windy and bumpy.  Oh well.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

July 5th

Tilly and I took the van to San Francisco to see Mum and Dad.  Having picked them up, we went to Ocean Beach, where Tilly got to run and play on the sand and paddle in the sea.  We went from there to Fort Funston, where we watched the hang gliders zipping back and forth.  After a stop at Starbucks, I dropped the parents back at their hotel and headed home.

Now, on the way there, all freeway, I'd stopped and filled the van and it had got 15.5 mpg, which is where it's been since the "rag incident".  I figured that the new oxygen sensor hadn't fixed anything.  When I got home, I filled it up again, and driving around San Francisco with its hills and traffic, and then the >100 miles on the freeway home again netted 17.25 mpg.  Fixed?  Maybe... I think I need some more data points.

July 4th

Today was Independence Day, when Americans celebrate the birth of their country by going shopping.  It was also bloody hot.  With Vic's help, I jacked up the DRZ and took the wheels off so I can get new tyres spooned on when Jeff has the time.  We cut up the old wooden boards that made up the (rotting) flower beds before it got too hot, then other than going for a cycle and running Tilly around the garden to tire her out, I didn't do much.

In the evening, I watched "Starship Troopers", as has a lot of noises to distract Tilly from the neighbours throwing fireworks at each other.

July 3rd

The local Sun City had their fireworks display, so we sat outside and watched that.  Tilly wasn't too bothered, it would seem, but the windows were all closed as it's too bloody hot.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

July 1st

The fuel economy on the van hasn't been great for a while, and Stephan suggested that it could be the oxygen sensor.  He was on about taking it out and testing it, but I figured I'd just put a new one in there and see if that solves it.  The new one arrived today, so I swapped it in.  Now I just need to drive somewhere to make sure it works OK, and fill up so I can test the fuel economy.  Here's hoping that problem's solved.

Power we've been billed for
Power we've generated
DMARC follies

June 30th

Another bloody hot day.  Vic went down to Los Gatos to see her mother, so Tilly and I mainly hid from the heat.  I took the front wheel off the mountain bike, and found the tyre full of little thorns.  Luckily there only seem to be 3 punctures, but obviously they're all right next to moulding lines on the tube.  I've patched them as well as I can (Tilly was most upset at me using her paddling pool to test for leaks), but I had a thicker (and heavier) "puncture resistant" tube in the garage, so I've thrown that in there for now.  I just have to wait for the rear to get holed now, and try to find another puncture resistant tube for that, too.