Hope 2009 is treating everybody well. The holiday season can be so stressful. A time when you should really be slowing down a bit to catch up with family and friends seems to be so frantic that you forget to actually slow down. You work so hard to have a great holiday that you work right on through and miss it in the end. For our family the holiday season keeps rolling right on through January. Last count of birthdays and anniversaries celebrated by my family in January is up to around 7. So things really get back to normal in February, but being the shortest month of the year it never seems like it is enough. So everybody that feels there is never enough time, I feel your pain. Let’s make 2009 a year for planning ahead, reconnecting and taking a few deep breaths. Think about it and get back with me, you know, when you have time.

Blown radiator hose on the way to work this morning. Almost made it but ended up 2 miles short. Nice refreshing morning walk. I'm sweating when I get to work and soon realize the heater is out again so quickly cool off and head toward freezing. The hose is not a big deal to replace if you can find one. Apparently they are just not kept in stock at your typical chain stores or even the dealer. I'm going to try out a generic flex hose to at least get it off the side of the road and back home.

Flex hose was a no go, had to order one overnight. Car survived the night out in the open. replaced hose and clamps, removed thermostat just in case it was bad. Filled with water, dex-cool and water wetter. Back on the road now, will double check everything when I get home tonight.

So I'm watching a show on discovery channel(I think) called Celebrity Rides. They make Porsche replicas, namely the 550 Spyder (The one James Dean died in. If you watch the show they will mention it about a thousand times.) Anyway, the car is great and they do a magnificent job on the finishing. They actually reuse an old vw bug for a lot of the base parts. I'm thinking "How very green of them to reuse". Then an idea hits me. Why not offer an electric engine for this vehicle! It's extremely lightweight and not likely to be used for long trips. I'll pitch the idea to them and let you know how it goes. A full turnkey from them is about $50k. Not bad for a custom built replica of a currently million dollar plus original.

http://www.automotivelegends.com/

Started a new job this week, started coaching my sons football team last week. Now I can't find the time to finish the yard projects that are in the way of my truck restore. I really enjoy coaching my sons teams, so I'm not upset about the time invested. We always have a good group of kids, of course my son is always the hardest to coach because he doesn't like listening to me. That's a pretty normal father/son relationship as far as I'm concerned, just hope he grows out of it sooner than I did. I need to tear down the throttle body on the vette, the cable is not returning all the way to idle so it makes for interesting driving when you expect to just be coasting down a hill but you accelerate instead. I'll get progress done on the truck soon enough, its always in the back of mind, then again its hard to avoid it with it sitting in the driveway.

The truck has not made any progress in the past month. I'm too busy starting other projects I don't plan on finishing! The back yard is the priority right now. The retaining wall to level out the back porch area is almost complete. It's going to take a truck load of dirt to bring that up to grade. Then pour the patio and build to pergola. Cedar was the original choice of lumber but I think that blows the budget so I think it will be painted instead. And then the masterpiece...A gas/wood fire pit and gas lantern lights on the pergola.