Cha Cha Cha Changes

Just a quick note to share today. Lots of changes around here causing car work to be set aside for a bit. Fair warning: no car content today.

Dog Daze

puppy needs a name

With the departure of our last child from the nest, Boo and I thought we now have time for a dog. While true, a new puppy takes up a considerable amount of focus, and that pulls time from other optional (and sometimes not optional) things. On 23-October, we went to a rescue adoption event at the Tanasborne PetSmart, where dogs and cats rescued in Texas were made available for adoption here locally. Why they need to come here from there, I didn't quite catch, but there were lots of people and many animals. In fact, the woman in front of us in the queue had driven from Eugene that morning, explaining that there simply are no shelter adoption animals in the valley, and she either had to get a dog from a breeder or drive up to Hillsboro. Who knew? Clearly, she did; she indicated that the store hosts an event like that about once a month and they are always that busy. She arrived mid-afternoon to the last one and the depleted selection did not include her new family member.

The scene was pretty crazy for the uninitiated: on either side of this 5 meter wide area, there were crates lining both sides. In the 15 meter long aisle in between, were maybe 40 humans, some potential adopters looking as a family for a new member, as well as volunteers helping people handle the animals and learn about them. One dog barked most of the time, and the dogs we interacted with were all a little traumatized, quiet, reserved, trembling. They had arrived that morning in a trailer from Texas, so it was to be expected. Boo and I took a couple (one at a time) outside of the venue to a grassy area behind the store to see if that helped them settle a little bit. We hoped to get a sense of the underlying personality, but with that much recent and arguably still-ongoing trauma, how could it? We visited with a few dogs, and this one black with white splotches puppy attached himself to us. And we to him. He trembled pretty much the entire time we were getting processed, but once we were in the main store looking for dog owner products, he started to settle down. He even fell asleep for a short time while one of us was carrying him. I guess removing the animal from the trauma for 30 minutes or so, if the animal is young enough, is enough for him/her to settle.

A few hours later, we're home, with a crate, a bunch of puppy stuff and a 3 month old puppy (name has not presented itself yet). So, there will be potty-training, and other training happening. He has been very responsive already. The day before, I had thought that my Sunday was going to be spent installing seats into Hapy while Boo worked a 12-hour shift at her new hospital job. Instead, after a night of sleep interrupted by scared-dog whimpers, it was spent going in and out my backdoor with a little puppy, followed by light playing or resting. Crazy how that consumes all your time. Even something as simple as eating a snack or taking a leak are perilous as puppy-bladder accidents happen quickly.

Boo Job Change

I just alluded to a change in Boo's employment. After years of working in specialized clinics (Pulmonary and then Cardiology), she took a new role at the hospital. If there is a "hood" in Portland, that's the hospital she is at, working a floor gig. This new role will be fewer hours per week, but they bunch all together. I mean... before, she worked 8 hour shifts monday-to-Friday, like an office worker. Now, she works 12.5 hour shifts (with a lunch break, its 12 hours paid with overlaps for shift changes) on any day of the week, but at least its daytime. Even with more time available in a week, any life schedule change has an impact as lives re-settle into a new pattern. 

Construction Junction

Before we got the puppy, we had started a plan to remodel some sections of our upstairs. The master bathroom was originally designed for one person, for example, and the laundry is in the far corner of the garage, about as far away from laundry generation as possible and still be in the house. We would like to resolve both of those issues, but that's a big scope. So, this work will be done in phases, and will mostly be completed by Boo (and specialized subs) with a little help from me but, nothing happens in a vacuum, and if one of us is swinging hammer, the other must be minding pup.

Getting Out

Bruxton Trestle

Last, Boo and I have discovered a shared enjoyment of hiking. This intersects well with life with a dog, as well as aligns well with a lifestyle change we have been making where we get up earlier, go to bed earlier and consume very little, if any, alcohol. Still, this means that time I would have spent during a weekend day wrenching on one of the projects may be consumed by a hike. We experienced the same slow down on projects where we were hitting the snow a lot, and that was a positive family-health tradeoff. Also, now that we're all vax'd, we have returned to hanging out with our musician friends more. I don't think that will have a meaningful impact, but time is fixed and consumption is cumulative. Before you know it, there isn't any left.

I guess, I needed to think this through so I don't become discouraged when projects are not moving forward. I know that Zed is effectively stopped due to cold/wet weather preventing painting anyway. I could probably do a thing or 2 on Oliver, but I really would like to get him through DEQ/smog before I invest any more time or money into him and the smogging won't happen until the nicer weather returns (there is a failed seal/leak where water can creep in under the windscreen). I expect I will be helping G on Nemo when he drops by, but my only real open project is Hapy's seats. Those seats and the related noise abatement might not be installed for a while. Time will tell. Perhaps the pup will like hanging out in Hapy as much as Boo, Schmidty (the kitty) and I do.

That's it for now. Over the years, I have forecasted a significant reduction in my car and posting activity only to re-appear in the next week or 2. So, I am sure you are taking this statement with a few grains of salt. I would if I were you too. Still, if I don't get back for a while, have a nice holiday season. If you can, give the gift of time and experiences, especially to yourself. While memories fade, material gifts fade faster.

Thanks, as always, for following along-

Bleeder done

Today's post is mostly to express thanks to one of our readers that offered a suggestion for the bleeder. I'll then cover the steps take to implement the suggestion. First off, I haven't been very good about thanking anyone and everyone that has posted comments or sent email about what I'm doing. The blog was hit by the spam-machines, so every posting has a bunch of junk responses / comments in various languages offering all kinds of opportunities for me to share my private information for a get-rich-quick scheme or another. It seems that the spam-machines have moved on to other blogs or sites, so I can now go through and read the comments. Please keep them coming, I appreciate the supportive words.

Bleeder
Reader payaso de la mar suggested trying
"a brass needle valve normally used for evap cooler or fridge icemaker tap....they have i think 1/8" pipe thread and taps that size are cheap, or you can 'make' threads with JB weld."
Most excellent idea! I had to stop at the Home Depot / Lowes anyway for some ant killer (nasty little buggers seem to be the bellwether of Spring) so I hit the brass / copper fittings section. I found this tiny brass valve that should work perfectly.

To the right, here, is the picture from the Home Depot website. The store SKU is 543241 (manufacturer's pn is PB9103-CP), and it retails for $5.30, which seems spendy. Still, the right part is always cheaper than wrong part after wrong part, which has been the story of this conversion, sometimes. This valve is maybe 3 inches from top to bottom and weighs less than 0.1 pounds. With the little nipple on the end, I'll be able to route the spill-off to the overflow bottle during bleeding. Sweet.

Install and Use
I had added a copper "T" in the lower radiator line for the install of the bleeder earlier. I had used the same copper "T" near the oil cooler, so I know the oil-cooler related hose would fit the smaller opening on the "T". I had some leftover donor hose from the oil-cooler circuit, so I took about 2" of rubber, and hose-clamped it to the "T". Into the other end, I inserted the old plastic nipple from the first replacement coolant flange (that goes on the front of the head). If you'll recall, I accidentally smashed one of these flanges trying to install the engine early on. From the pictures that have my shop in the background, you can tell I don't exactly throw much away, so I had that flange lying around. A quick cut with the saw and I have something to screw the valve into. It fits into the opening, albeit tightly, and it holds up to pressure.

Now, when I want to bleed the lower end of the system, I can connect a stretch of clear plastic tubing (so I can watch for bubbles) to the valve and run the other end into the overflow bottle. Simply run the engine a bit with the valve open slightly, and the air in the lower end should come out the bleeder. Perfect.

I'll add pictures of this later on, maybe when I'm working out the kinks of the bleeding. UPDATE: here it is in-situ. I was out working on theelectrical and snapped this yesterday.

pictures:
top - image taken from the Home Depot website of the valve
middle - my yellow Lab, completely wiped out from a day of playing
bottom - the bleeder in-place, hooked up to the lower radiator line