Dancing
Now, here is a guy who is definately epitomizing the Sandcruiser lifestyle!
Briefly: he's dancing around the world. Great stuff.
YouTube and WhereTheHellIsMatt.com
Briefly: he's dancing around the world. Great stuff.
YouTube and WhereTheHellIsMatt.com
Labels: blog, expedition, travel
New Look for Louie
We've been pretty busy this week, attending a wedding in Arenal, working, participating in an ugly bicycle accident that left Steve slightly bruised and just a little bloody... all in all, a lot going on.
So far, the only thing of which we have a photo prepared for the web is the repainted front grill on the truck (with the always-lovely Lake Arenal in the background). Not much of a photo compared to the rest of the stuff, but not having internet at home makes posting images a hassle, and the LAST thing that we want to do at the end of a long day of work is stay at the office for a little while extra. But hold tight, more photos en route! [edit: here's one more picture of the volcano!]Labels: Costa Rica, day trip, landcruiser, photo, vacation, wedding
the funny truth about gambling
so here it is
gambling is
a gamble.)
Aren't you glad you tuned in?
Normally, Sandcruiser (as an entity) is not in favor of gambling.
But
and let us repeat "But"
Whenever you actually win: that's pretty fun. If you are us, it mostly makes you wish you bet more money! See, we are what you call "risk averse". Seriously.
Despite that..... much fun was had at the casino nearby.
Our friend did get a little older.
Tonight, at least , life is great!
tx for tuning in.
Cheers
gambling is
a gamble.)
Aren't you glad you tuned in?
Normally, Sandcruiser (as an entity) is not in favor of gambling.
But
and let us repeat "But"
Whenever you actually win: that's pretty fun. If you are us, it mostly makes you wish you bet more money! See, we are what you call "risk averse". Seriously.
Despite that..... much fun was had at the casino nearby.
Our friend did get a little older.
Tonight, at least , life is great!
tx for tuning in.
Cheers
Accomplishment
Living in Costa Rica isn't only about great weather, great waves, great views, great people....
Too often it is about not quite getting things done because you run into an obstacle and/or not being able to finish a project because you can't get a part.
Yesterday I finally finished several car-related projects in a row! What a great feeling!
It all started when I finally got fed up with some minor brake problems, so I pulled into a bay at my local mechanic's shop and asked if I could borrow it for a few hours.... "Sure" he said, "No problem" (ok, the rough equivalent in Spanish, but let's not be picky).
So I jacked up the cruiser (with his big 'ol floorjack) and pulled the rear wheels to check on why the brakes were dragging. A rock had (believe it or not) lodged itself in between the little adjustment wheel and the edge of the spring plate, which had apparently made it advance too far. Odd. Cleaned it up. As I was replacing the drum, I thought:
"Hey, I'm staring at the shock, and I've got 4 new ones right here...."
So I replaced all four shock with brand new Old Man Emu shocks that I had brought down from the states two weeks ago. Stoked!
While down there I saw the ebrake cable mount had lost its bolts, rummaged through the mechanic's "extra bolts" bin and found 2 that fit. Added them in. One less rattle!
Then, since I was there anyway, and the parts store is right there, I figured I'd do a flush and fill on the radiator. Ok, the radiator is about 3 weeks old... so it didn't much need cleaning, but when I did the replacement, I was in my steep driveway and didn't take the time to drain the block. So I grabbed his coolant basin, popped the engine block plug, and watched a bunch of not-too-clean water come out. Followed up with draining the radiator too. Then ran fresh water through till it came out clean.
Bopped over to the auto parts shop, bought coolant, refilled everything and buttoned it all up. While I was at the parts store, I noticed that they had batteries on sale. Mine has been fading (doesn't start well when the engine and battery are hot) and it is at least 3 years old, probably more like 6. So I figured, I'd go ahead and buy a new battery here and stop waiting for my next trip to Liberia (the "city") where it is probably a bit cheaper. They tested the old one just out of habit, mostly, and confirmed it was quite dead. Popped a new N70 in and hooked the wires up. While putting it in, I had the bright idea to run over to the hardware store (across the street) and begged a scrap of roof insulation.... sorta like bubble wrap with mylar on one side. Used that to fashion a crude blanket around half of the battery to shield it from engine heat, but hopefully allow good airflow to keep the battery cool.
Finally, I fixed a broken bolt that holds the center support for the grill... just drilled it and replaced with a burly metal-screw (can't buy an EZ out here... I tried). A tad ghetto-fab, but good enough.
Thanked the mechanic profusely for loaning me some shade and a concrete floor (vs. my VERY tropical-sun bathed gravel driveway with a steep slope) and was ready to be on my way. I asked him what I could pay him for the space and he dismissed it with a wave of his hand.... then asked "What are you doing with your old OME shocks?"
"They are all yours, amigo. Enjoy."
The only downside to the day was that when I happily drove through town to go surfing, I (like a dummy) locked my door key inside the car. Or, more specifically, inside my Tuffy console, which is a very safe place, and for which I had the key around my neck. Just for some reason I didn't stop the think that I would need the DOOR KEY in order to get to the Tuffy console... whoops!
First time I've ever locked the key inside the cruiser. :( Fortunately, I live in a small enough town that there were several friends in the surf and one drove me home to get Jocelyn's keys.
Sure feels good to take care of a bunch of little annoyances! Even better when you realize that around here, the norm is for projects to take twice as long as you expect, not half. I've got to go work at the mechanic's more often.... no interruptions, access to random bolts/nuts, floor jack, and hardware store and autoparts store right there.
Too often it is about not quite getting things done because you run into an obstacle and/or not being able to finish a project because you can't get a part.
Yesterday I finally finished several car-related projects in a row! What a great feeling!
It all started when I finally got fed up with some minor brake problems, so I pulled into a bay at my local mechanic's shop and asked if I could borrow it for a few hours.... "Sure" he said, "No problem" (ok, the rough equivalent in Spanish, but let's not be picky).
So I jacked up the cruiser (with his big 'ol floorjack) and pulled the rear wheels to check on why the brakes were dragging. A rock had (believe it or not) lodged itself in between the little adjustment wheel and the edge of the spring plate, which had apparently made it advance too far. Odd. Cleaned it up. As I was replacing the drum, I thought:
"Hey, I'm staring at the shock, and I've got 4 new ones right here...."
So I replaced all four shock with brand new Old Man Emu shocks that I had brought down from the states two weeks ago. Stoked!
While down there I saw the ebrake cable mount had lost its bolts, rummaged through the mechanic's "extra bolts" bin and found 2 that fit. Added them in. One less rattle!
Then, since I was there anyway, and the parts store is right there, I figured I'd do a flush and fill on the radiator. Ok, the radiator is about 3 weeks old... so it didn't much need cleaning, but when I did the replacement, I was in my steep driveway and didn't take the time to drain the block. So I grabbed his coolant basin, popped the engine block plug, and watched a bunch of not-too-clean water come out. Followed up with draining the radiator too. Then ran fresh water through till it came out clean.
Bopped over to the auto parts shop, bought coolant, refilled everything and buttoned it all up. While I was at the parts store, I noticed that they had batteries on sale. Mine has been fading (doesn't start well when the engine and battery are hot) and it is at least 3 years old, probably more like 6. So I figured, I'd go ahead and buy a new battery here and stop waiting for my next trip to Liberia (the "city") where it is probably a bit cheaper. They tested the old one just out of habit, mostly, and confirmed it was quite dead. Popped a new N70 in and hooked the wires up. While putting it in, I had the bright idea to run over to the hardware store (across the street) and begged a scrap of roof insulation.... sorta like bubble wrap with mylar on one side. Used that to fashion a crude blanket around half of the battery to shield it from engine heat, but hopefully allow good airflow to keep the battery cool.
Finally, I fixed a broken bolt that holds the center support for the grill... just drilled it and replaced with a burly metal-screw (can't buy an EZ out here... I tried). A tad ghetto-fab, but good enough.
Thanked the mechanic profusely for loaning me some shade and a concrete floor (vs. my VERY tropical-sun bathed gravel driveway with a steep slope) and was ready to be on my way. I asked him what I could pay him for the space and he dismissed it with a wave of his hand.... then asked "What are you doing with your old OME shocks?"
"They are all yours, amigo. Enjoy."
The only downside to the day was that when I happily drove through town to go surfing, I (like a dummy) locked my door key inside the car. Or, more specifically, inside my Tuffy console, which is a very safe place, and for which I had the key around my neck. Just for some reason I didn't stop the think that I would need the DOOR KEY in order to get to the Tuffy console... whoops!
First time I've ever locked the key inside the cruiser. :( Fortunately, I live in a small enough town that there were several friends in the surf and one drove me home to get Jocelyn's keys.
Sure feels good to take care of a bunch of little annoyances! Even better when you realize that around here, the norm is for projects to take twice as long as you expect, not half. I've got to go work at the mechanic's more often.... no interruptions, access to random bolts/nuts, floor jack, and hardware store and autoparts store right there.
Labels: landcruiser, weather
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