Finally -- the crawdad...

Ok, so this was what i was starting to post after the praying mantis when i realized the previous two posts were necessary before this one.

While installing my new mailbox, i spotted my little enemy in the yard. A while back, a had some crawdads digging stupid holes in my yard (at least 3 or 4). they are annoying, but finally i gave up filling in the hole, b/c they just kept re-digging, and making the yard worse. so, i just mashed down the mud outside the hole and decided to let them be. So i have several little holes in my yard, but you don't really notice them unless you are looking for them.

anyway. i figured the little varmits would have been dried up by the hot dry summer. NO. good thing i never filled in the holes -- they still live!

Look how evil this things looks! how does it live with no water? and what does it eat? weird!

again, this are a must CLICK TO ENLARGE... especially the 2nd one!

 

 

New Mailbox

Per my previous post, I just installed a new mailbox. Isn't she beautiful!?

My last mailbox got hit/knocked over at least (literally) 10 times in the 3 years i've lived here. It seems to only happen in the winter (until last week). It's been hit by a mirror or two, which just bent it a little. And it's been completely knocked over by the snow plow on 2 seperate occasions. Now, being me, i went and got some 3" screws, and screwed the thing back together, both times. It was wintertime, and there was no way i was putting up a new mailbox in the snow. So, my old mailbox had been on its last leg (even though it only had one to begin with) for over a year anyway. This time, there was no possible way to repair. The post was broken off at the ground, and in a few other pieces -- it got completely run over by the bronco. I was going to break down this fall and put a new one up. So, i got to do it without having to pay for it, yay!

Now, the REASON my mailbox got so often (before last week) was because it was too close to the road. 16-18" from the white stripe. I measured my neighbors' boxes (which haven't been hit the whole time i've lived here) -- and the front of there boxes are 24 inches and 30 inches. So i put my new one at about 27" -- so it's safer, and, i didn't have to dig out the old post/concrete to put this on in :). And now i can get the mail from the back, so i don't have to wait for traffic to get my mail any more. yippee.

enjoy:

 

 

Tragedy... the SS got hit!

Luckily, it wasn't very bad. As most of you know, this car is my baby. It stays in the garage most of the time, and I always park miles away from people, and do my best to avoid scary people when driving. It is a 2002 Camaro SS, and has only 15,500 miles on it. I have put around 4,000 on it since I bought it 4 years ago. Show car. Perfecto. Absolutly pristine...

Well, as I'm SITTING IN MY DRIVEWAY waiting to pull out on my (often busy) street, the traffic begins to slow, because someone is turning left up past my house. Well, a guy in a Ford Bronco was paying no attention, and didn't notice everyone stopping until WAY to late. His hit his brakes, and swerved to his right, off the road, into my driveway, over my mailbox, and his REAR BUMPER scraped the front of my car. I had seen this all about to happen, but didn't have nearly enough time to put the car in reverse and move. So on the bright side, its just plastic damage, nothing structural. But its just sad :(. SITTING IN MY DRIVEWAY.

Luckily this guy actually has insurance, unlike the lady who hit my other camaro 1.5 years ago. So, his insurance of course is paying for the repair -- and, a new mailbox, yay! I was actually going to get new mailbox this year anyway -- so now it is free. Doesn't quite make up for the pain of my toy, but, it is just a toy.

so, if you have a strong stomach, see the tragic damage below ;-)

 

 

 

 

Wildlife - Baby Praying Mantis

More wildlife at the Elam house! Little baby praying mantis. cool. click to enlarge, and enjoy in amazing detail from my macro focus.

 

 

Ipod vending machine.

I am officially on my way to Mexico. I'm sitting in the Dallas/fort worth airport waiting to board my plane to Mexico city.

I took a stroll around... And found 2 interesting things. 1. They have a chapel in the airport. Cool.

2. This ipod vending machine. At first I thought I thought it had headphones, chargers, etc. But it actually is loaded with all different kinds of ipods, psp, and lots of accessories. Good thing you can pay with credit card, that would be a lot of quarters!

G8 Photo Op!

So I drove the SS to church today (yay!), and just happened to drive past a couple brand new orange G8s in a parking lot. Perfectly parked for me to squeeze in and take some pictures. yay for 3 sexy whips. The G8 is PHAT -- clearly. Its funny though, it actually makes the SS look small!

Here you go... eye candy:

 

 

 

 

A stingray tried to eat me.

Door Sills/Aluminum Buffing

So while waiting for the door panels to try, I decided to have a go at polishing aluminum. Not too bad for a first try! Brough back some shiney! Brad/Christi, I used my dremel for this! Another use for a great gift!

Before/After:

Another Before/After (opposite ends of course)

Door Panel Restoration

So, as mentioned, the interior of my impala is an ugly/boring “saddle” color (aka Tan). Of course it’s a big faded and worn from 43 years of use… but overall in pretty good shape. I decided to try some vinyl dye (kinda like spray paint, but actually penetrates vinyl and/or fabric to recolor, and stays flexible, and keeps the same texture).

• So the door panel looked like this. (forgot to take a pic before removing the armrest/door handle, and window cranks. But you get the idea.
  
  
  
• Did some hard core scrubbing with Purple Power to clean 40 years of grime off the door panel so the dye sticks properly, and use some rust remover/chrome polish to shine up the chrome pieces.
• Tape off the chrome trim
  
  
  
• After dye is applied
  
  
  
• Removing the tape makes it pretty! Look at the
  bling!
  
  
  
• Door panel reinstalled and reassembled. It looks amazing, pictures don’t really do it justice (not to mention they show a fuzz and a couple fingerprints from re-mounting it.
  
  
  
  

So, for now, I have one pretty black door panel, with cleaned up chrome (cleaned up all the other parts too), but eventually the whole interior will be this nice! Yay!

SKILLET concert

I will be here.  No doubt.

Skillet
Thousand Foot Krutch, Decyfer Down

The Avenue - Ginghamsburg UMC - Tipp City, OH
April 04, 2008 08:00 PM
[Doors open 07:00 PM]


For info contact: 937-667-1069 For more info http://www.theavenue.org/

Impala Update - Dash work!

Well, the impala project has started. Stupid me didn't take any pictures before i started taking things apart (dangit!) so this is what i have. I've taken out the dashboard/gauges, and had re-painted/repaired some interior peices.


This is the gauge cluster bezel/trim. I taped off all the black and redid the Chrome with some special spray paint. Not perfect, but looks pretty good! It's actually upside-down in this picture... (side note, that pink bag is NOT mine, and has nothing to do with the impala)

Here is the dash with the guts ripped out. I am changing the interior from "Saddle" (aka Tan) to black, so everything you see here that is gold-ish or tan-ish will eventually be black. it is gonna look sweet!

Gauges and chrome dash moulding after cleaning, and the glovebox door after painting black. It was originally "Saddle" -- but was painted that color changing green/purple/blue terrible wannabe paint when i bought it.

pretty... :)

Things will get much more exciting, so stay tuned. now i actually have something to blog about.