Excitement abounds

Time for another episode of "How exciting is my life?".

A little background...recently the a/c crapped put in my 1991 Alfa Romeo 164L sedan. Faced with the prospect of an approaching Florida summer and no car with a/c, I decided to bite the bullet and have it fixed.

Well this included a new compressor, new condenser, new drier, new expansion valve, new high pressure freon lines and various other a/c related bits. Can you say "wallet draining incident? I can....

Anyway, it is done and it actually works! So I spent some of my Tuesday night sitting in the 164, in my garage, with a meat thermometer in the vent. Just so I could actually watch the temperature fall on the meat thermometer. People who know me realize this is something I'd actually spend my time doing. Yeah, I know, pathetic.

But here's the proof that it was money (well?) spent! Look carefully and you will see the aforementioned meat thermometer registering a steamy 92 degrees before the a/c was turned on.

Watch with joy and rapture as I deftly press the auto-climate control buttons and the a/c springs to life! Listen as the fan whirs gently and then increases its speed to a tornadic(made up word)intensity! Finally, notice the trusty meat thermometer as it registers a shawl-inducing 55 degrees after a short drive around my neighborhood.

Now I must take my leave to draw a steamy bath lest I catch a chill. Fare thee well sweet blog readers....

The Guzzi flywheel is on the move

For the second year in a row, Moto Guzzi riders from across the USA are participating in a "relay" of a Moto Guzzi flywheel (reproduction) from a 1940's/1950's bike.

The flywheel started it's journey in Florida this year and will travel all around the USA until it arrives at it's destination....The Moto Guzzi National Owners Club National Rally in Colorado on June 26th. It will be passed from rider to rider in different states until it travels through most if not all of the contiguous 48 states.

The flywheel's journey can be followed here http://nationalguzzirelay.com/. Along the way riders and others contribute to an injured rider's fund which is awarded at year's end to a deserving rider.

Rain, rain, rain on my window

We finally had a nice line of thunderstorms pass through central Florida over night/this morning and got a good rainfall. Hopefully will help keep the wild fires at bay.

Knee slapper

My friend Mark the Shark sent this funny cartoon today. Thanks Shark!

<click image to enlarge>

Grand Funk tune o' the day

Today's Grand Funk tune o' the day is called "People, Let's Stop the War". This is from the 1971 "E Pluribus Funk" album, which had an album cover shaped like a silver coin, embossed with the heads of Mark, Don and Mel.

Mark Farner, who penned most of the tunes in the GFR catalog of songs, had a penchant for writing songs with a political message and this one, written during the Vietnam war, was no exception.

A good album, with a lot of good, hard rockin', 3 piece power rock tunes. Get your copy of E Pluribus Funk today and enjoy 'em all!

Grand Funk Tune o' the day

Today's Grand Funk Railroad tune is called "Out To Get You". This song was on the last Grand Funk album of the 70's, aptly named "Good Singin' Good Playin'"(GSGP).

This would actually be the last Grand Funk album before they disbanded in 1976. 2 of the original 3 (Farner, Brewer) reunited in 1981 until 1983 for a couple albums and then they disbanded again until the short-lived but very successful reunion tour of the original 3 members (Farner, Brewer, Shacher) in 1996 (until 1998).

Anyway of interest re: the GSGP album, it was produced by Frank Zappa and indeed Zappa even played on part of the album.

Frank Zappa played a blistering lead guitar on this song while Farner(who played lead on almost every GFR song) played rhythm guitar.

Sit back and enjoy the stereophonic sounds of Grand Funk Railroad, circa 1976...

Deland, Florida is smokin'

Several brush fires are ongoing in central Florida currently, the windy conditions of late making them very difficult to contain.

One of the brush fires is a couple miles north of me and encroaching on I-4, currently within 1/8 mile of the interstate.

Here are a couple pics of the smoky haze in my neighborhood from the fires.

Me 'n' Mister Loaf

This morning prior to heading out for my Sunday walk, I decided it was once again time to place a call to duty for my trusty sidekick, Mister Loaf.

I was bound and determined to try a new recipe for white bread. So I found a base recipe on the web and embellished slightly upon it. Here's the recipe for a 1 lb loaf:

7/8 cup water (~80 degrees)
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cups flour
4 tsp gluten
4 tsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp yeast

I generally add the water into Mister Loaf first, followed by about 1/2 of the yeast and then the vegetable oil, milk.

Next I combine all the dry ingredient and add those all at once. Hit the start button and it's game time for Mister Loaf. Mister Loaf kneads the dought lovingly and then goes through cycles where it allows the dough to rise and it bakes the dough.

The result? about 3.5 hours after I added the ingredients I have a pleasingly golden brown loaf of bread which a crispy texture outside and tender inside. Way to go Mister Loaf!

Back from the ballpark and here are some pics

It was a fun day at Champion Stadium today as the Braves walloped the Mets 12-1.

My friend Mike the Mets fan was there with his Mets hard hat on, antagonizing players and umps alike.

It was a great time. Here's a link to my Kodak Photo gallery of pics as well as a few select pics shown below....

KODAK GALLERY OF PICS FROM TODAY's GAME...CLICK HERE!

Buy me some peanuts and Crackerrrr Jacks.......

Today I am off to the ol' ball game, specifically Champion Stadium (formerly Cracker Jack Stadium) where the Atlanta Braves hold their baseball spring training.

The Braves are playing the New York Mets today, which is a pretty good rivalry. I will meet up down there with my former coworker Mike (born in Queens, NY!) and he is a big Mets fan who can become boisterous in the stereotypical New Yorker way!

Luckily I am actually sitting about 10 rows behind him and some of his buddies so I will get to view his antics during the game.

Here are a couple pics of the stadium, which is located on Disney property. The red "X" marks the approximate location of my seat.

Reprising one of the greatest internet videos ever....STAR WARS KID!

Alfa Romeo 164L engine oil/filter change

This afternoon I found the time to perform and oil and filter change on the Alfa 164L.

Normally a rather simple affair on most cars, but of course it is a bit different on the Alfa. The oil filter on the 164's v-6 is located on the back side of the motor and not the most easily accessible item in the world.

So one must jack up the right front of the car and remove the front tire. Once the tire is off, there is enough room to snake one's hand back to where the filter is located.

Using an oil filter cap and a ratchet I was able to loosen the old filter. The 3 liter v-6 takes about 8 quarts of oil...wow! I think my previous Subaru 2.5 liter 4 took just 4 quarts. Anyway I need to drain about half the oil into the drain pan, then put the drain plug back in, empty the pan and then drain the rest. Sheesh. Guess I need a bigger pan.

While I was doing this I figured I would take the plastic fender liner out so I could take a look at the belts and pulleys and such on the motor.

The 164 now has a new Bosch oil filter and about 8 quarts of Valvoline 20w50 pulsing through her veins now. Here are a few pics.....

Trip to Jacksonville

Today I went for a drive up to Jacksonville, FL to meet a couple of fellow Alfa Romeo 164 owners, Neville and Steve. Steve is an Alfa 164 guru from Virginia visiting Florida and Neville lives in Jacksonville and has two 164's, one running and one not.

So anyway I have corresponded with these fellas on the www.alfabb.com online forum and today was a great chance to finally meet them. Both great guys and a fun trip!

It was about a 230 mile round trip. On the way home, about halfway back, my a/c and fan stopped working. Upon investigation at home looks like a fuse is blowing and it appears maybe there is an issue with the a/c compressor clutch :=(

Oh well, something new to look at tomorrow.








Steve on the left, Neville on the right. Great fellas!

Mister Loaf

Last night I broke out my long unused bread machine "Mister Loaf" and made a loaf of bread. I eased back into the loaf-making business by purchasing a store bought bread mix from "Krusteaz".

The result was a quite pleasing loaf of bread. Golden brown outer shell, moist, slightly chewy texture.

Spring training 2009 and a nip over to the Gulf coast

Yesterday my friend Sherrie and I took a road trip in the Alfa 164L to Lakeland, Florida to catch a spring training baseball game. Lakeland is the spring training home of the Detroit Tigers who play at Joker Marchant field.

It is a very nice stadium and we had GREAT seats down the first base line.

After the game we decided to take a trip over the Tampa/Clearwater on the Gulf coast, since it was only about another 40 miles away. Well, that turned out to be somewhat of a mistake as traffic was VERY heavy and stop and go for many miles.

Anyway, we finally got there without the Alfa overheating or anything and seeing the Gulf and Clearwater beach was worth the trip. Here are some pics from the trip....

LINK TO MY KODAK PHOTO GALLERY ONLINE...CLICK ME!!!