Stargazer's Garage

It was time again for the strange spectacle of spring cleanup. During the first week of May the city allows residents to go over the 2 garbage-can limit and I scour through the basement, dig in the garage, and generally hem and haw over whether I should keep that empty box or broken floor lamp just more year. That in itself is not so strange because I'm generally a packrat and I like to keep things "just in case." What's truly strange is the parade of vehicles that comes through our neighborhood from early in the morning to late in the evening the day before the city crews come to pick up the extra garbage. Every spring cleanup tops the last and this year is no different. It's worse than Hallowe'en because at least on Hallowe'en the cars only come for a few hours. This year I noticed that in addition to the steady stream of cars, there was actually foot traffic: people out for a pleasant walk on a sunny Sunday afternoon, perusing the selection of unwanteds...

Today was beautiful and I was able to see what the Rally Armor looked in the sunshine and take some more pictures.

I installed Rally Armor mud flaps on the STI tonight. I had actually ordered them quite a while ago, but instead of having them shipped to Canada, I just had my dad bring them back with him on his return from Washington, DC. I couldn't wait to install them so after returning from the airport, I had a late dinner and then when down to the garage. The package from Rally Armor came with a set of four flaps and all the mounting hardware. I printed the installation instructions from their web site. The flaps are really rigid so they should hold up well. I'm looking forward to see how effective it is at keeping the sides of the car clean.... Installation was straight forward with clearance at the rear wheels being the only issue. The stubby screwdriver was too long and the socket wrench with the screwdriver adapter did not fit either. I've seen other people post the tools they used so they could do the install without removing the wheels (like a 90-degree screwdriver) but I didn...

I've been wanting a new camera for awhile now and it seems like that it may be happening sooner rather than later because I think the one I have now is starting die. Anyway, my workshop ended early this afternoon so I took the time to go to some different locations to take pictures.

I had a lot of people tell me how great Skype is, but I never got a chance to try it out until today when R32argent installed it on his computer. It's awesome! The voice clarity is really good and we were able to talk no problem. Well, you have to be careful when you talk at the same time, but it really does sound like they are right there with you. It's bizarre when you remember that you're talking to someone on the other side of the continent. The best part of it? It's all FREE!

Something's happening to Easter and I'm not sure what to make of it. All of a sudden it seems to have taken on an aura of Christmas. My kids wrote a note, drew pictures, and left candy out (in a chocolate cookie nest that Cal made at school) for the Easter bunny. Ken gladly gave up the large chocolate egg she received from her teacher because, "The Easter bunny is going to be giving us more." Hmm.... I know I'm guilty of playing it up at Christmas, but I didn't think that it would extend into other holidays, too. The kids even recieved Littlest Pet Shop gifts (the latest craze) from Grandma and my wife. Sid presented us with a card she made at school and Cal made one for us at home. Ken, the youngest, went around and gave everyone special Easter hugs. Anyway, I'm not complaining, just a little amused. We had a wonderful brunch my wife prepared this morning and I'm looking forward to the special turkey dinner we will have tonight. I installed Skype la...

Here are some of the pictures from the pre-meet in Richmond. Today was fun, although I don't know White Rock that well and when we left early to go to McDonald's for lunch I felt like we were in a foreign country. The rest of the pictures are here: April 15 White Rock Meet pictures .