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Thursday, October 27, 2016

Early voting

Like a lot of people, I am sick and tired of the three ring circus that calls itself the presidential race. Down here in Texas Early voting began Monday. Many of my friends voted. The local library served as our polling (voting?) center. I'm totally cool with that. the volunteers were kind and helpful. I even shook their hands and thanked them for doing such a great job. The line to get into the library was long. Down the sidewalk and around the corner. This is the biggest turnout I've ever seen, and it's not Election Day yet.  
My daughters were anxious to  vote in their first election. I wanted them to make up their own minds about which candidate to support. In the weeks leading up to today, I received fliers and looked at non-partial websites showing the flaws and strength of each person.
Unfortunately I had to go to places outside the US to get some honest journalism. The BBC had a lot to do with my information gathering. And it's not just the presidential race. I'm concerned with the Senators and the rail road commissioner seats as well. In trying to convey this to my oldest daughters, I got a bit over the top.
Yeah, I told them both to get their lazy butts off the couch and get down there to vote.
Today I got this:

As long as she voted
Think she's pissed at her old man? Well, I don't care. You talk the talk, you better walk the walk. No putting stuff off until the last minute, that's why I got pushy.
Whoever the next president is, they will select the next four of five Supreme Court justices. This will affect how my kids are going to live for the rest of their lives. They know that, but I don't think they understand the depth of what's at stake.
By the way, I voted on the way home from work. Now if I could just turn off the damn ads and commercials. I did my part, now go away.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

You get out what you put in

When I was at the con two weeks back, a friend mentioned I needed to meet some people. Oh hey, networking! I love that. Turns out her friends were in SCA, the Society for Creative Anachronism. The guys who dress up in Renaissance clothes and beat each other up with swords. Yeah, those guys. I've been to a few SCA events. Friends of mine are in it. I've always been circling the fringes of this group for years. A friendly orbit, if you will. I contacted the guy who runs the 'tavern' at the event. No contest, but simply an opportunity to meet other brewers and discuss shop.
The event was a 40th anniversary of the founding of the Barony. Confused? 
Turns out they have different names for groups in regions of the country. The San Antonio/ New Braunfels/ Seguin area is considered the Barony of Bjornsborg to the SCA people.
See, this is fascinating to me. A wide group of people living a different life on weekends. This is a whole subset of humans from different walks of life. (Ranging from biology professor to retiree, I asked.) The thing that struck me most was everyone was so friendly! People were welcoming and social. It also helped that I was giving out samples of the mead bottle I brought. Another item I can put in the win column, I passed out all the cards I brought and nearly talked myself hoarse. Someone also contributed to my fundraiser. This will go towards ingredients for my next batch. I also got advice to try a type of drink called a cyser. Linguists will note that sounds a lot like 'cider', and they are not wrong in drawing the comparison. There is a bit of juice (apple or grape) involved. I'm looking forward to trying this next creation, but first I have to get the ingredients.
I liked meeting these folks, even if I didn't know their real names. 

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Game Expo

October is a busy time for band parents. Friday night ball games, Saturday marching competitions, Sunday...
Wait, there's nothing going on Sunday? Well that's not entirely true...
Friends of mine run a con known as Game Expo. It's a little celebration of all things Geeky. Board games, Role playing games, miniature warfare scenarios and video games. A good time is had by all. Every year I volunteer to run a board game or two and help out in anyway I can. This is a chance to meet up with friends I don't usually connect with on a day to day basis. Even though I think the world of these people, we simply run in different circles. It's a different sort of family reunion.
There is an artist I've talked about before and I'm going to give him a plug now.
Freddy Lopez had his table set up and he was out in full force. Every piece of work he does provokes a reaction. From me, the emotion that surfaces the most is awe. He's that good. Funny, inspiring, and I just want to say; he gets it.
I have one of his works and I wish I had the money to buy all of his stuff. This weekend at the con he unveiled his latest creation, the Critical Dragon.
There are no words
Cons attract a lot of people. There are genuine artists such as Freddie, but for every diamond there are some cubic zirconias out there. Merchants who sell prints and imitations of artwork. They blot out the name of the original artist or simply claim or steal it as their own. Plagiarism at it's worst. I feel it is not only theft, but a slap in the face to the one who put in the effort that goes behind creating something this fantastic. I'd love to figure out a way to tag an artist's work and keep some low life hack from making a buck off of it.
Freddy has a distinctive style and if I ever see some street vendor selling the art as his own, then I'm going to call him out. The only real way for him to protect his copyright is for fans to be on the lookout for artwork being ripped off.
Here's a suggestion: look him up on Facebook and like his page. Get updates and get the word out on the stuff Freddie is doing. He is an illustrator worthy of following.

Monday, October 3, 2016

Truck repairs

Last week my truck blew a manifold gasket while a rain storm drenched the city. I barely got my youngest Jedi to school in time. Sadly, I limped home to call work and tell them I was going to be late. The folks at Auto Zone were more than helpful and the way they described the procedure I thought I could fix this.
Because the week was so filled with errands and running around, I only had about an hour each evening before the sun set and made it impossible to figure out what I was doing in the dark. That and I had to wait until Friday to buy the new gasket.


You know how one project can evolve into several mini projects? I put a new gasket on the thermostat as well as the manifold, a new air filter and even a new rubber tube that the mechanic experts at the store had trouble naming.

The You Tube videos I found were helpful to a degree, (The captioning sucks.) I ended up buying a repair manual to help guide me through the process. This was probably the best decision to come out of this experience.

I spent the better part of Saturday and Sunday under the hood. Cleaning, scraping, getting layers of grease off. At one point I dropped a razor blade into the just sealed manifold. I couldn't fish it out and I couldn't shake it out. Sadly, I ended up tearing the whole thing apart and started over. Even I knew I couldn't simply leave it in the engine. That means I had to buy a new gasket at 28.00 dollars a pop.


The wife unit had an idea: since I did all the hard work, and my oldest two daughters were good at putting things back together, I should let them do it while I'm at work.
To say I was a little worried would be fair. If I'm being honest, I felt my girls would do okay and things would work out.
Of course there were problems. I didn't have the manifold seated correctly and they couldn't bolt it down. They then did the next natural thing to do: they reconnected nearly everything else.
I gotta say I was impressed the fuel rods were on correctly and the alternator assembly was solidly in place. Except we had to tear the whole thing apart again to adjust the manifold.
The girls insisted I go inside and take care of dinner and make sure the little one was doing her homework.

After several setbacks, the girls are back on track. Manifold in place, things tightened down. I don't care if I don't get any sleep tonight, the truck needs to be done.
We've got lights set up and the girls are doing their best.
I am so proud of these two. They call me when they need brute strength to move or hold something and I'm going out there in a bit to reconnect the serpentine belt, but I have a feeling this is going to be done tonight come hell or high water.

P.S. We were done just after Eleven PM. Drove it around the block. My girls did great work. I'm proud of them.