Sunday, May 29, 2005

Sunday, no day of rest here…

I’m so far behind on my personal projects it’s beginning to bug me. I’ve got my wife’s old pickup apart and filling the garage. My bike sprouted an electrical short the last time I wanted to ride it, so it’s apart as well (but mostly sitting in the driveway).

So today, instead of surfing the net, lying in the hammock, or otherwise simply doing a whole lot of nothing, I’m going to go get busy on this stuff.

Oh, remember Whit? I posted about him a few days back, well, I talked with him on the phone yesterday and we made plans for me to be up there at the end of July. He’s throwing a graduation party for Brit so it’s a perfect time to be there, see her all grown up, and spend some time relaxing, or “swattin’ flies and swappin’ lies” with some old friends. I promise to take some pics of the shindig and share them here.

While I was talking to Whit, he told me he’d actually been to the blog, read everything, but hadn’t had time to leave a comment yet... maybe one day soon! Also, another old friend Tom Metcalf was there so he and I chatted a bit too. Seems he’s helping Whit put up a new pole-barn… I’m guessing Whit’s got too much business in his ‘side-line’ shop and he needs a bigger shop! Man I gotta move back to the country!

Tom’s another of those unique characters I’ve known and I’ll write up a story about him one day soon, he certainly deserves one.

So today, I have two goals. First is to finish the custom body work on the truck bed. I’m taking some stuff off a newer bed (like gas tank doors) and a slightly different tailgate and fitting them to this one. Also I intend to reverse the tailgate ‘handle’ and place it inside rather than outside. If I can get both gas tank door sections welded in, and the tailgate customization completed and in primer today I’ll be very happy!

My second goal is to fix the wiring problem on the bike. I have a ‘fix’ in mind, and I think I’ll have enough time, but, if I don’t I’ll do it tomorrow morning!

You see I’ve established a deadline for the truck now… I’d like to have it finished, in paint and tested out so I can drive it up to see Whit. It would be a perfect time and place to show off my new creation, with someone I know would appreciate it! (Yeah, it's a gas-hog, but it'll be fun to drive and if I spend $150 instead of $100 in gas over the trip how much difference will that really make?)

I may be a bit scarce around here for the next several weeks as I thrash to get this done. I’m hoping to chronicle the project here, complete with before and after pictures of each stage. If my back holds out and I don’t run into any real complications I should be able to finish it in time. Worst case, I can at least show folks the pictures at the party!!

One other thought comes to mind as I’m writing this today. Tomorrow is a day we set aside to remember those who’ve paid the ultimate price for the freedoms we all enjoy. Please take some time tomorrow, to think about the country we live in, the freedoms we enjoy and how lucky most of us were to simply have been born ‘here’ and not somewhere else.

The price of freedom has never been free. Let’s all take a moment to thank those who’ve made it possible for us to enjoy it.

As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome.

9 comments:

Patrick M. Tracy said...

Bill,

Good luck on your vehicular adventures. I'll have to buckle down and finish rewriting a novel this next month. I've been spending too much time blogging and laying around, and it needs to get done before the end of July. I'll attempt to keep up the posting schedule of at least two a week, but again, I don't know what sort of difficulties I'll run into. It looks straightforward now, but I haven't dug in yet.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing the results of your work, if you decide to post some pictures. Hope your back holds out.

Karyn Lyndon said...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know you can't stay away for long. Good luck on your projects.,,

Bill said...

Thanks Firehawk, I had a rough day, had to go on a quest for 'cut off wheels' mid-afternoon and that cut into my progress. But I got the worst side roughed in today.. so all in all, I'm pleased. Not bad for being out of the 'biz' for 15 years!

I know what you mean about laying around and blogging... It's all to easy to do!!

Karyn, I didn't say I was going to 'stay away'... just that my focus would be shifting a bit. This is far too much fun to stop!

I will be posting some pics tomorrow or Tuesday night, I've got to carve out some space on the server for them first. :)

Spirit Of Owl said...

I have so many projects that I'm gonna do - but they're not mechanical so all the bits and peices can stay in my head... LOL

Gotta say, you're output is prodigious man!

Spirit Of Owl said...

Your output is prodigious. You, I know, are not prodigious output. I know this. But your output is. Duh.
:=p

Cylithria Dubois said...

Happy Memorial Day Bill and Maryan! Hey Bill, thanks for the time you spent serving our country....

I'll be spending tomorrow playing Catch up on my blog reading, but i had to swing by and give you a hug for wishing me well while I was on my 'down time'. I hope you and Maryan have had a great weekend!!

Jay said...

So, did you get it all done or what?

Bill said...

Spirit of Owl: I read fluent ‘typo’ :) I knew what your intention was, and thank you! So what projects do you have all stored away in your head?

Cyli: Welcome back! I’m so glad you’re feeling better, and Happy Memorial Day to you as well! Maryan and I are doing our best to have a wonderful weekend… so far… so good!

Jay: Ummm no… I made some progress, but I need a couple items from the body shop supply store and they won’t be open until tomorrow (funny thing about consumables… you don’t know you need them.. unti you need them!) I will be posting pics of the progress so far tomorrow.

Spirit Of Owl said...

One of my projects is to practice spelling "piece" better. Grrr. It is sooo annoying when you spell a word inperfectly.