08:19 – Happy New Year. Let’s hope 2014 is better than 2013 was.
As usual, Colin had a hard time with the fireworks. A few early ones about 9:00 sent him slinking off to hide in his crate. I waited until there hadn’t been any for a while and then convinced him to go for his last walk of the night. They started up again around 11:30, and Colin came up on the bed between us for protection.
Barbara is still doing her annual Deep Clean. I’m working on our submission for the S.P.A.R.K. Competition.
RBT, you’re a scientist, right? Well, here’s an experiment for you to try: dress up like a dust bunny and see who gets you first: the fierce hunter or the fierce cleaner.
Yes, we were in a free fire zone here in the wilds of Fort Bend County last night. There were mortars going off for over six hours around my house, whoooooomp then boom! My former USMC son got mortared in Iraq and no longer can deal with mortars so he stayed at his home last night, safe in the Houston city area with no mortars. Our dog was continuously barking also at the people in the street in front of us shooting off mortars.
We are well on the path towards Obummer’s plan, single payer health care in the USA:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/10/22/is_this_gross_incompetence_or_the_planned_path_to_single_payer_health_care
My Aggies beat up on those very good Duke Blue Devils so I had a great New Years Eve! I wonder when Devil will become a bad word like Redskins?
Happy New Year and a prosperous new year to you all! I am hoping for a very prosperous 2014 as 2013 sucked a little bit.
And I am missing OFD’s weather forecasts so I can lord it over him. We are 65 F here in the Land of Sugar but dropping back into the blustery low 50s tomorrow.
It’s going to be below zero here in a few days. Hope my 20 year-old Roadmaster starts in that cold. It works hard anytime the temps are below freezing. Below zero just may be its downfall. Wonderful Canadian-built gas-guzzling V-8 under the hood. If given half a chance, it jumps to life instantly, so I’m hoping for the best. Roadmaster is due for replacement this year. I’m going to miss the power behind that V-8.
Re: the political situation—
Ever notice that the more things get deregulated, the more regulated we become?
Hope my 20 year-old Roadmaster starts in that cold.
Start the new year with a new battery and an oil change?
Also, how are the plugs and wires?
Everything electrical under the hood in that car was changed last summer. The starter is the problem. My mechanic wanted to defer replacing that, because he said you can only get rebuilt ones for cars that old, and he was not sure a rebuilt one would perform any better than what I have—and besides, it is a couple hours work because the placement requires pulling the water pump to get to it.
It definitely has been deteriorating slowly, as it only cranks solidly when the engine is cold in mild weather, or after cooling 10 minutes or so in cold weather (below 50 but above freezing). Cranks slowly if the engine is hot in summer, or below freezing in winter. Thank goodness that engine springs to life with hardly any crank at all.
It only has to get me through another month.
It only has to get me through another month.
Ah, but it is the coldest of the months that ye has chosen, me thinks. But, as the learned one says, rebuilds may not be much, if any, better.
Amazon Prime Links
Amazon Prime TV Last 30
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_il_to_instant-video?rh=n%3A2858778011%2Cn%3A2864549011%2Cp_85%3A2470955011%2Cp_n_date%3A2693527011&lo=none
Amazon Prime Movies Last 30
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_il_to_instant-video?rh=n%3A2858778011%2Cn%3A2858905011%2Cp_85%3A2470955011%2Cp_n_date%3A2693527011&lo=none
Oh goodie, that worked! Your comment yesterday has been one of my frustrations with Amazon Instant Video, and one reason it can’t possibly compete w/ Netflix: the utter confusion of the website. Let’s hope these links don’t depend on the date Cp_n_date field=today.
Chuck, would a block heater help your car start when it gets really cold? I got one for about $10 when I lived in northern Minnesota a few years ago. Never needed it, but it was good insurance.
I’ve noticed with new cars that manufacturers have done away with factory installed block heaters as an option and have instead gone with battery blankets. Apparently, keeping the battery warm is more beneficial to cold weather starting than keeping the engine block warm?
And all the Amazon streaming users can be jealous over sites like this: http://instantwatcher.com/
Chad asked: “Apparently, keeping the battery warm is more beneficial to cold weather starting than keeping the engine block warm?”
Correct. The amperage contained in a battery drops substantially when cold, and results in slow cranking engines. Block heaters weren’t used in the past to keep the oil warm to help start the car, but to prevent the block from pushing out the freeze plugs, or splitting the block from the internal pressure of any ice that may be formed. Engines warm up surprisingly fast! Modern engine design, combined with more efficient antifreeze has pretty much eliminated that problem.