It'll have to be quick because I should be leaving for work soon. The weather has warmed up after our record setting 2 ft. in one weekend followed by -52 degrees with windchill down here in Alberta. The MR2 has done quite well, I needed a boost on Monday but it's been fine every other day.

Work is pretty crazy, we're doing the MASSIVE YEAR END CLEARANCE FOR THE LAST TIME BETTER GET THERE QUICK BECAUSE THESE DEALS WONT LAST LONG INDOORS AT THE EXHIBITION GROUNDS sale. Or something along those lines. Detail is madly trying to get everything spic and span for the insides, and prepping newly arrived vehicles to get down there as quick as possible.

Aside from that everything is looking up! Might look at buying a house again before I go back to school... anyone wanna invest?

And finally just like our joys and hopes in this advent season so to does the:

Muffler

So as much fun as it was the first time I got into my car after the muffler had fallen off, revved it up, scared away all birds in a 3 mile radius, and proceeded to rip off down the street... It became old after about five minutes. Soon I notice the shaking of my rear view mirror more than the sound outside, and that cruising at 100km/h feels similar to that horrible seat in an airplane right near the engines. So heres some pics of New vs. Old and a fresh install.

Total cost was about 200 dollars, and it was worth it the vehicle is much quieter now. Something interesting to note is that because of the age of the vehicle when I order a muffler for it, even though on the screen the picture is exactly the same as what I have, what arrives is not. You can see the differences in the pictures between the old and the new. This is because of what they call 'SUPERSESSION' which means that the original manufacturer no longer makes the part and someone else does now. So the 85 MR2 Muffler has gone through 3 or 4 supersessions and it works like the game telephone. The more supersessions it goes through the less like the original it was. Just because you order a genuine Toyota part, the older the vehicle the more likely you'll have to do some fabrication and adjustment. All I had to do on this particular modification was to flip one of the brackets on the car mount.

Energy

Tonight I got a Thai Foot massage as part of my drive to use up all of my benefits before the end of the year. It was really good, not just for the foot massage, but also for the opportunity to discuss energy, aura, prayer, and the idea of visualization.

So my goal for the next little while is to 'VISUALIZE THE WIN' But moreso to experiment with the idea that if one constantly visualizes debt, frustration, unhealthiness, then that is what the universe will give. Hmmm, talking about what the 'universe will give' makes me feel very new agey. But I don't think it's as strange as it sounds. What if I take visualization and call that prayer, and energy and call that the grace of God? Is that sacrilege... I'll have to ask Brother Pastor.

Anyway as I was saying before I got distracted I'm going to start consciously trying to visualize good things and positive things in my life. Whether it be a little bit of financial freedom, loss of weight, my car running well. It's given me a rededication to visualize (pray, imagine, direct the forces of the universe if you will) these positive things. Along with this will be the idea of not allowing myself to focus on the bad things. Dwelling on the negative things is, so goes the theory, just as powerful as visualizing the good things. I'll let you know how it goes. ;)

P.s. MR2 Muffler arrived, it looks very different than my current one. I'll let you know if it ends up fitting at all...

Funny Pic and a few other things.

So today I purchased a new muffler for the MR2. It's been two weeks of driving without one and I'm getting sick of sounding like one of those honda knuckleheads with their big 3 inch cans making the sound of a sick lawmower. So soon once again I'll be able to drive through nice neighbourhoods not feeling trashy.

Also on the car front theirs a few other little fixes that I'll be having to do in order to try and get it running in tip top shape for the winter. I've been doing reading and apparently they make amazing winter cars b/c of the engine weight sitting directly overtop of the drive wheels. But given that it is still rear wheel drive is a lot more enjoyable to drive than the average car.

AUTOBOTS TRANSFORM

O.k. so prolly not so much on the transforming but:

Cover Story...

Friends are indeed good and important. Friends are an aspect of community. In Pamela and My community we have few friends, but they are good friends. People that can be counted on.

As I have been thinking through my discontent as of late I have been concentrating much on this idea of community. As a couple Pamela and I have two places where we have some community established, here in Lethbridge, and in Calgary. As our thoughts, well mine at least, move towards desiring to be in post-secondary education again the idea of community throws a little wrench into deciding where and how.

Lethbridge offers good jobs, a little establishment, less expensive schooling, and our current community. Calgary has the potential for bigger community, the inclusion of Family in our immediate group, and a different type of lifestyle. Honestly I believe that we would move to Calgary if it were not for the potential added costs of living there. It's hard to feel limited by funds, but it's a feeling that Pamela and I deal with on a constant basis. I imagine everyone does on some level or another.

As far as education goes right now Pamela is working on her BA in History with a minor in Spanish. Don't tell anyone but we have no idea what that'll actually get her. When people ask our 'cover story' is that she is hoping to go into work with non-profit organizations like Samaritans Purse working in Latin America. Which means that whatever I choose had better well be something that can be done in Latin America. This is why lately I have been thinking of a degree in technology. Lethbridge offers a New Media degree which basically leads towards a career in advertising, marketing, or combined with other skills anything from editing movies to doing layouts for magazines. This degree would fit the cover story nicely.

I've talked about 'cover stories' a few times and feel I should explain. Pamela and I are at the age where we are supposed to be 'doing something' with our lives. This is where much of my own angst comes from because although I enjoy being a part of the automotive industry, I've now been washing cars, and managing the washing of cars for over a year now. When people ask 'what I'm doing with my life' it involves soap suds and waxes and leaves something to be desired. Which is where the cover story comes in. I think our lives are very much summed up in how we answer 'what have you been up to' or 'what are you doing with yourself'. If we have no excitement answering this question it's wrong. I look at some family members and their answers are 'I'm a freelance journalist' or 'I'm a pastor of a church'. Others are 'I work for a bible school and live on an Island' or 'I run a home business and raise my three kids'. These all seem so very acceptable and wonderful to me, and yet 'ME MAKE CARS SHINY' does not. So MY cover story is 'I'm working right now to support my wife going through University and we are checking over the finances to determine whether or not we can support me as well. She's studying history and spanish to do international work and I'm going to go into media so I can have a mobile base of operations and we can travel together' *whew* I guess all I'm saying is that if the 'cover story' is much different then the reality, then we must not be content. I am not content, but hopefully soon my life will be a little closer to my cover story and the 'content' will follow.

Well, I should go and get to work on time. Toyota's don't clean themselves!

dREW~

Merry Thursday everyone.

P.s. the muffler fell off my care the other day.

Major Thoughts from the last weeks...

1. Microsoft Frustrated Me!

I own an xbox 360 and I use a third party memory card to carry my profile with me. This way when I go to a friends house and we play a game together the advances and time I spend there can come home in my pocket with me and be used on my own xbox. I chose a DATEL memory card because I got 2GB of space for less than the cost of Microsofts 512mb card. The latest update for my xbox came down from the intertubes the other day and guess what. I can no longer access my memory card. This update's only purpose? Block third party memory cards. A LITTLE WARNING WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE. Conclusion that seems prevalent on the net - Microsoft is basically using the update to force you to buy their stuff.

p.s. I was able to recover my gamer profile but did lose some data, FRUSTRATING!

2. Soon I'll have Snow Leopard!

My wife Pamela and I purchased The Mac Box Set recently from the apple website so we can finally upgrade to the new Mac OS. We are still running Tiger, which is good but I'm definitely starting to see it's limitations. The Box set will upgrade our iLife, and iWork as well as the OS. Unbeknownst to me it turns out that the regular snow leopard disk would work as well. Apple decided to imply that you could not do that on their website. To me it does not matter because I did want authentic copies of ilife and iwork, but it would be nice to be given options.

1+2 = REALLY frustrating that the major manufacturers of personal computers are both getting very good at SCREWING people out of their money through these sneaky sneaky ways!

3. Happiness...

Pamela and I have been discussing much lately whether or not we are truly happy in Lethbridge. She is in school as a history major and is liking University and working part time as an employee of the city of Lethbridge. I'm working full time as the Foreman/Manager of Lethbridge Toyota's detail department. What does this mean? I organize, do inventory for, and participate in the cleaning of cars. It's o.k. there's some high points (I've cleaned a Porsche and an Audi TT recently) but overall I'm feeling this incredible sense of having topped out the position and not really having much other options in the job. I also had my 1 yr. anniversary there on Nov. fourth. Despite all I have learned, and the MR2 I now drive because of working there I couldn't help but feel like I had wasted 1 year of my life on cleaning cars a little bit. SO we are looking at the future a little more intensely - I'm thinking of going back to school and am waffling between going towards a trade of some kind (electrician perhaps?) and University to go for a degree in Multimedia Design or something similar. Essentially we hope to make some changes before the end of the coming summer.

4. Location Location Location:

We currently live in Lethbridge. My parents used to live an hour away and we saw them often, they have now moved to Sylvan Lake which is approx. 4 hours away. We have some good solid friends here but cannot feel like our community is lacking a little bit. Lately when we visit Calgary where Pamela's parents and a lot of our friends live we get an overwhelming sense of community and well-being, this is leading us to think that we would like to move back. But this will be dependent on the decisions we make regarding point 3.

5. MR2

I have new rubber and rims on the MR2 which is kinda fun, and am hoping that the car continues to run as well as it has been so far. Future things I need to do is adjust my throttle positions sensor, purchase new spark plug wires. I may also have a few dead sensors that need replacement as the vehicle is running a little rich. But I will hold off on replacement until I've done as much tinkering as is possible. Reason for this is that it could simply be that the Mass Air Flow sensor is covered in gook, or perhaps my intake is all greased up. Many things it could be, just need a little free time to get all those things patched up. ;)

Halo: ODST

So this weekend was my birthday so I went and purchased a new video game for myself to celebrate. A friend came over and over the course of 2 bottles of rum we finished off the game. I found myself really enjoying it and finding it extremely easy to attach emotionally to some of the characters and couldn't quite understand why.

Today while playing I began to recognize the voice behind the character 'buck' and so went to imdb.com to have a look. Turns out that 3 of the voice actors in Halo: ODST are from another series that I enjoyed immensely called firefly.

So Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, and Alan Tudyk thanks very much for being awesome.

The 7 Bays of Glory...

So this is something I'm stealing off of a car forum that I peruse called the 7 bays of glory. You need to pick vehicles that match the criteria for each bay, money is no issue, and it's kinda fun.

#1 - Daily Driver

#2 - All Corners (must be AWD)

#3 - High Speed Heaven (luxury & power)
#4 - Mid or Rear (engine behind occupants)
#5 - Off the Beaten Trail (4x4 & such...)

#6 - Track Time (track vehicle)
#7 - WILD CARD (just fill the bay - balls, class, style, prestige ... whatever)

#1 - Daily Driver = Subaru Forester STI - Think Wagon with insane performance

#2 - All Corners (must be AWD) = Porsche 911 Targa 4S

Explanation - Porsche = rear boxer engine, 911 = Performance, Targa = panoramic glass roof, 4 = drive wheels, S = Super Awesome

#3 - High Speed Heaven (luxury & power) - Bugatti Veyron cuz everyone needs a car with 1001 horsepower.

#4 - Mid or Rear (engine behind occupants) = Toyota Mark 1.5 MR2 a tricked out version of what I drive now... i'd need about 15000 to dump into it...

#5 - Off the Beaten Trail (4x4 & such...) - Toyota FJ Cruiser - because I work at toyota and these things are hilarious to drive!

#6 - Track Time (track vehicle) = Lotus Elise - Cuz nothing handles quite like a lotus.

#7 - WILD CARD (just fill the bay - balls, class, style, prestige ... whatever) = The Campagna T-Rex, this one is heavily modified but I'd take a stock one ;)

Well that was fun. Wanted to make a blog entry the first thing I did now that I've gotten the Mac back up and running. had a hard drive die on us so we lost most things. Used it as a chance to upgrade so now have a Seagate 7200.11 1TB 32mb buffer hard drive inside, and have become a HUGE proponent of backing up!

Made me Laugh a LOT!

More of what I've been up to!

So tonight I got home at 12:15 a.m. because I was working on that car again. ;) I love it!

Anyway tonights project was giving the engine a really good cleaning b/c it is filthy, and we're trying to establish where an oil leak is coming from. B/c it is the easiest to change we started with the valve cover gasket, also this is a chance to look inside where the cams and valves are and look to see what condition these things are in. They are in good condition! :) Little bit of gunk buildup but nothing serious. So after taking off the covers, doing a little painting here and there of everything from windshield wipers to the center part you see beloy. (used to be black and nasty looking!) cleaning cleaning cleaning we got the new covers back in and went to fire it up. No dice WOULD NOT START! Problem? Well lets see we got it wet so prolly distributor. Which it was after blowing it out and getting it all dried up started up with a mighty backfire and away we went.

It's been a ton of fun learning all this stuff first hand on my $800 mr2 and the more I understand about vehicles the more I'm enjoying them. I'm not saying I'll become a mechanic. But it's putting meat on the bones of my love of cars.

Things that still need doing on the MR2? Need new wiper blades, possibly new distributor and cap, some more gaskets, some soldering for the headlights (so they'll stay on at night :*). These are on my to do in the next few months.

As far as my goal of purchasing and having a vehicle running for under $1650 (the selling price of my motorcycle) I'm quite pleased to say I'm still 150 dollars underbudget, and I have a reliable city runabout.

What I've been up to Lately...

Some new pictures.

INTERIOR - SEAT REMOVED NO CLEAN.

CLEANED INSIDE

SEAT BACK IN

To Expand upon the car thing - Kind of an annoying table but if it says TRUE TRUE it means that I've bought it and installed it, if one true then I've purchased it.

FALSE	FALSE	HANDLING COMPONENTS:
TRUE	TRUE	New Struts (KYBGR2’s)
TRUE	TRUE	Tire Balance
TRUE	TRUE	Nitro
FALSE	FALSE	New Rotors and Pads
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE	ENGINE/POWER COMPONENTS:
TRUE	TRUE	Spark Plugs x4
TRUE	TRUE	Air Filter
FALSE	FALSE	Block Heater Cord
TRUE	TRUE	Oil Change
TRUE	TRUE	Coolant flush
TRUE	TRUE	New Coolant Cap
FALSE	FALSE	Gasket
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE	AESTHETICS:
FALSE	FALSE	Gold Clean
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE	SAFETY/SECURITY
FALSE	FALSE	Ebrake (5-8 clicks)
TRUE	TRUE	Door Lock
FALSE	FALSE	Handle
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE	GENERAL MAINTENANCE ITEMS:
TRUE	TRUE	Windshield Crack Fix
TRUE	TRUE	Washer Fluid
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE	CAR AUDIO AND VIDEO
TRUE	TRUE	Stereo (From Danilo?)
TRUE	TRUE	Speakers = JL TR400-CXi
TRUE	TRUE	Wiring Harness
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE
FALSE	FALSE	NON CASH PAYMENT FOR SERVICES RENDERED:
FALSE	FALSE
TRUE	TRUE	Pizza