Running out of options, but all is not lost

Spud gun failed again. Jen and I went to Bishop's earlier and got an electric grill igniter to replace the electric lighter component of the spud gun.. seemed to give a better spark. Bryan installed it. We (including Nick and Justin) discovered that the threads for the end-cap's seat were a bit melted from last night's flames; Nick spent a while scraping the threads with a knife. He and Bryan then used PVC cleaner as a solvent and a long clamp for leverage, and force dthe cap in, thus rethreading the melted portions. Joined by Jen and Mitchell, we ran some tests--got a few successful dry-fires with propane and with carb cleaner, but still couldn't achieve ignition with anything in the barrel, in any configuration. We're about to give up on it--it should work fine, but it just won't. We might be using too much fuel, but less didn't seem to work any better. Who knows?

In their future plans (not mine, as I'll be gone) are pneumatic air cannons, which seem to work better and more quietly, though are more difficult and expensive to construct. (That site has a lot of interesting plans and information, actually.)

Also, I failed to find appropriate staples to affix the new bike seat cover in two trips to Bishop's, so I'll probably be taking the rivet route.. bought rivets and a rivet tool. Still having trouble getting the new seat cover on over the old seat, even after removing the old cover--but I think I can get it with some more effort. If not, there's an open auction for an entire seat, near-mint, for around $5 (five) that closes in a few days--I bid once, was outbid, and now plan to watch it until it closes and see if it's still a good deal by closing and if I've managed to get this nice new cover on.

In other news, I think this GPS will make a fascinating tool/toy. Having terribly accurate location/heading/speed/altitude info as well as maps for wherever I might be going, plus navigation software, is both fascinating and useful. :)

Ferret care.. let's see.

Following my posts in ferretlovers and tjpeople, I've been offered help from:

distortedsoundz: Philly, PA, has 2 ferrets.

arya: Austin, TX, has 5 ferrets.

dreamy: Rochester, NY

ferretman666: Farmville, VA, has 2 and a large cage, needs mom's approval

indigo: McLean, VA, never had ferrets, but has had guinea pigs and cats

electricsoup: Centreville, VA, has 4 ferrets, has spare cage

I'm thinking the last one, as she's by far the closest to home in NoVA, knows ferret care, and seems like a nice person. :)

Minor setback..

Finally devised a way to stretch the new motorcycle seat cover over the old seat frame/padding, drilled a hole for a rivet, cut a small hole in the cover, inserted a rivet (1/8" x 1/8", as suggested), popped it... and it pulled out. Instead of flaring the far end of the rivet, it stretched out the whole body of the rivet and thus didn't hold. I guess another trip to the hardware store is in order.. and/or an email to TravelCade for advice.

Damn online banking..

I can't get into my online CFCU account.. I'm pretty sure I remember my user ID and password, but I couldn't get in enough times (trying other passwords I could've used) that I got locked out. *sigh*