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Friday evening: Very heavy traffic heading out to Manassas, as usual for Friday, necessitating an alternate route home--and still didn't leave Manassas until almost 7pm, with a container of casserole (dinner from mom) in hand and dad driving. The drive to Radford was uneventful, arriving around 11 or 11:30pm to find [Uncle] Harry still up, [Aunt] Mary headed to bed, Emily (13) already asleep and Luke (10) at a friend's house. We chatted with Harry for a bit, had a beer, had a look at the beast '51 Chevy Fleetline, and went to bed on Luke's bunk beds--old-time Coca-Cola style!
Saturday: Worked on the car! Trim and hardware to be attached, lights to be attached, connected, and troubleshot, engine to be worked on, fluids to be checked, rust and paint to be removed, and primer to be applied, among other tasks. Harry got off work around 2 and helped, and eventually we called it a day, long after realizing that a 4pm departure just wasn't happening, and having a family dinner of tacos. :) Inside, I worked on their computer--a $75 pawn-shop Dell system that was quite nice, except that it would no longer connect to the internet, or stay online if it did--with any software. I used the other computer to download and run Ad-Aware, which found 236 nasty items, some of them High Risk, all of which I removed, and after some restarts and reinstalls, it still wouldn't connect. Emily had already backed up their files, so a Windows reinstall was the next step, but that could wait until morning--this decision was made at 12:30am.
Sunday: Family breakfast of biscuits and gravy, and then I alternated Windows reinstallation with car work--more lights and hardware, replacement front seat (from a Pontiac Bonneville, while the Fleetline seats get reupholstered by a local woman Harry recommended), etc. By late afternoon the car was mobile, so dad and Harry took it for a couple of test drives, while I hung out with Mary/Emily/Luke for some quality cartoons. Finally, around 7pm, we were ready to go. Dad leading and me following, we headed out via the highway (81), maintaining about 60mph to ensure the Fleetline was up to the task. Of course, this meant we were passed by everyone and their brother, but when an untested 50-year-old car with small taillights is in question, slower is safer. We stopped a couple times due to concerns about the car, but it was fine in the end--even if his heat wasn't working, mine was flaky, and I drove most of the 250-mile trip with my truck fluctuating between the top of Normal and the red line of Hot, never quite overheating. We stopped along the way at McD's, sampled their unimpressive new chocolate pie, parted ways in Manassas, and I got home sometime after 1am--to 36-degree weather, and the low temp further southwest is in the 20s tonight and tomorrow! This is inappropriate spring weather. :P
Monday, I'll post photos of the Fleetline (before and after), Harry's other projects (Beetle, Bonneville, and big honkin' station wagon with a V8), their house, their pets (bearded dragons and dog), and the family. :)
P.S. - Harry and my differences have been reconciled, by way of dropping the subject and being friendly. Worked nicely. :D
P.P.S. - /?skip=225, and 2 days behind on comics
Saturday: Worked on the car! Trim and hardware to be attached, lights to be attached, connected, and troubleshot, engine to be worked on, fluids to be checked, rust and paint to be removed, and primer to be applied, among other tasks. Harry got off work around 2 and helped, and eventually we called it a day, long after realizing that a 4pm departure just wasn't happening, and having a family dinner of tacos. :) Inside, I worked on their computer--a $75 pawn-shop Dell system that was quite nice, except that it would no longer connect to the internet, or stay online if it did--with any software. I used the other computer to download and run Ad-Aware, which found 236 nasty items, some of them High Risk, all of which I removed, and after some restarts and reinstalls, it still wouldn't connect. Emily had already backed up their files, so a Windows reinstall was the next step, but that could wait until morning--this decision was made at 12:30am.
Sunday: Family breakfast of biscuits and gravy, and then I alternated Windows reinstallation with car work--more lights and hardware, replacement front seat (from a Pontiac Bonneville, while the Fleetline seats get reupholstered by a local woman Harry recommended), etc. By late afternoon the car was mobile, so dad and Harry took it for a couple of test drives, while I hung out with Mary/Emily/Luke for some quality cartoons. Finally, around 7pm, we were ready to go. Dad leading and me following, we headed out via the highway (81), maintaining about 60mph to ensure the Fleetline was up to the task. Of course, this meant we were passed by everyone and their brother, but when an untested 50-year-old car with small taillights is in question, slower is safer. We stopped a couple times due to concerns about the car, but it was fine in the end--even if his heat wasn't working, mine was flaky, and I drove most of the 250-mile trip with my truck fluctuating between the top of Normal and the red line of Hot, never quite overheating. We stopped along the way at McD's, sampled their unimpressive new chocolate pie, parted ways in Manassas, and I got home sometime after 1am--to 36-degree weather, and the low temp further southwest is in the 20s tonight and tomorrow! This is inappropriate spring weather. :P
Monday, I'll post photos of the Fleetline (before and after), Harry's other projects (Beetle, Bonneville, and big honkin' station wagon with a V8), their house, their pets (bearded dragons and dog), and the family. :)
P.S. - Harry and my differences have been reconciled, by way of dropping the subject and being friendly. Worked nicely. :D
P.P.S. - /?skip=225, and 2 days behind on comics
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