Water

I so much want to be on the water. I hope I'm able to find time this summer. Sorry for the crappy scanned photos.

Wood Wheel

I ordered a new steering wheel last weekend off of Amazon. Who knew that they sold car parts now, with free shipping to boot? The walnut Grant steering wheel came on Tuesday and the mounting kit came on Wednesday. So Wednesday night I took apart the old blue wheel only to discover I needed a steering wheel puller to detach it from the steering column. Good think I don't need to drive the Cutlass to work anytime soon.

So I pick up a steering wheel puller from Sears after work Thursday. After Corwin goes to bed- and Anke is still trying to get Conrad to sleep- I sneak down to the garage to finish the job. With the right tool, the old steering wheel pops off in about 30 seconds. Now I am having a moral debate with myself if I should repackage the puller and return it to Sears for a refund. It's in literally like new condition. I used the damn thing for under a minute. You could just say I borrowed it from the next guy who buys it. And it should be noted that I think that someone borrowed it from me previously, because the package had been opened before and was taped shut.

So with the old wheel off the instructions say that it typically can be installed in less than 30 minutes. Perhaps by someone who has done this before, but it takes me over two hours. It pays to read the instructions all the way through once before starting a project. And hooking up the horn was a relatively simple proposition. But the directions made it seem much more complicated than it was.

But it was enjoyable. Relaxing. Therapeutic, really. It was just really great to put my new Dropkick Murphy's CD in the old player and fiddle with my car. Now I just need to convince Anke to let me get my new radio so I can install that. Then I can get rid of the below mounted CD player and do something with the gauges to hide that awful tangle of wires.

Photos

Conrad may walk before he crawls. He doesn't have any inclination to motivate around on his arms and knees, but we're practicing standing.

Corwin sports his new Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars.

I never had such a big Tonka truck as a kid. Mine were nice, as far as 70's Tonka trucks went, but they were made of a rather brittle plastic. This bad boy is nigh indestructible.

Evidence of beavers in Fontenelle Forest. I rather treasure having such nice trails so close to home.