I'm finally taking a concealed weapons class tomorrow, so I should have my Utah concealed firearm permit within the next month or so. I've been carrying a lot lately, mostly at home and while camping, but I'm comfortable enough with it that I hardly notice my handgun at my side. I'm thinking about getting the slide on my P-11 nickel plated, since it's already showing a little rust from being carried--a small part of the slide sticks out of my holster and is exposed to my skin, and it doesn't take long for the sweat to wash away the oil on the slide. I actually prefer the all-black look of my P-11 now, but a nickel-plated slide would look better than a rust-brown slide. =)

The radiator in my car is just about shot, and we just about got stranded in Orem yesterday because of it. I had worked the day in the office while Traci was at her brother's house with Michael. On my way from Provo to Orem to pick up Traci and Michael (only about 15 miles or so), my car started overheating badly enough on I-15 that I had to turn the heater on full blast to keep the engine temperature down. When I got to Orem, I told Traci that we'd either have to wait until later in the day when the temperature was much lower in order to make it home, or else stop every 10 minutes to let the engine cool down. But I got thinking, and I came up with a way to make it home without having to stop--I disconnected the windshield washer fluid hose from where it splits off to the nozzles on the hood, and routed the hose so it would spray water right onto the front of my radiator. I had to unplug the wiper motor so my wipers didn't scrape across a dry windshield when I activated the washer button, but it actually cooled the engine off enough that we made it home without any problems.

I'm ordering a new radiator today, and I'll be installing it next week. I'm getting a double-row radiator (apparently only used as OEM in the turbo model), so that should pretty much solve any cooling problems I have. I'll have to use a hacksaw to cut off the old fan clutch, because the bolts are still stripped--I was able to re-use it last time I took the radiator out (when I replaced the head gaskets) because I had to take the water pump and timing covers off anyway, so the fan clutch came off with the water pump. This time, there's no way I'm going through that much trouble just to replace the radiator, but I can borrow the fan clutch from my '87 Subaru, but eventually I'll have to get a replacement one from the junkyard.

There is a massive moth infestation in my neighborhood right now, and it's creeping me out. I've never had or heard of people having moth problems around here, but there are thousands of them outside my house right now, and it feels like a variation of The Birds. There are so many of them that by just standing outside for a minute or two, you're likely to get dive-bombed by a dozen or more moths. We've been camping since Friday, and when we got home today I gave my mom a call and she said there were shitloads of them in our mail slot and between our front door and the screen door when she came in this morning to turn our cooler on. I sprayed insecticide around all the windows in the basement to try to keep them out, and luckily there have only been a few in the house so far.

Our camping trip was alright. Russ and his girlfriend stayed from Friday until yesterday, and Jaysen and Michelle stayed from yesterday until today when we all left. Ty and Mandi even came out for awhile on Saturday, which was probably the highlight of the whole weekend--the rest of the time we just spent sitting around in the unbearable heat, being eaten alive by bugs. Next time I go scouting for a place to camp, I'll be sure to do it closer to the time we'll actually be camping there. A few weeks ago when I picked this spot out, it was much cooler, and there were no bugs at all. We decided that next time we go camping, we'll go to the very top of Huntington Canyon, where it's likely to be as cool as anywhere else that my truck can reasonably go without breaking down.

I went up to Sandy and saw The Matrix Reloaded today with Ty and the gang. It's probably something I wouldn't have seen until it came out on DVD if I hadn't gone up with those guys, but I'm glad I got to see it in a decent theater. I was surprised to see Cornel West in it, especially since I didn't notice any other cameos. The thing that really bugged me about the movie, though, was the goddamned General Motors commercial in the middle of it. Through the entire freeway scene, the only non-GM vehicles were the semis--at least I don't think they were made by GM. In two of the really wide shots, I noticed a BMW and an old RX-7, but not a single Ford, not even a Crown Victoria police car. Surprising, since the car they drove in the first movie was a Lincoln Continental.

Today is my 5th wedding anniversary. It seems that with any type of milestone event like this, it always feels like it couldn't possibly have happened that long ago, yet it feels like forever ago. We're not really doing anything special to celebrate, except dinner and a movie. Of course, for an old married couple, I guess that really is a departure from normality. Anyway, happy anniversary, honey.

Traci's last doctor's appointment was on Tuesday, and we scheduled a c-section then--Bradley should be born on June 30th. That date is really creeping up on us, and we still have a lot to do in order to be prepared for this one. We had to have Michael two weeks early, and we weren't even prepared then--I spent a few days in the same clothes, without a shower, because I couldn't peel myself away from the hospital for the three hours it would have taken me to drive home and get a change of clothes. We're really hoping there aren't any complications this time--specifically, we don't want the baby to come early and force Traci to deliver down here at Casketview. Two years ago with Michael, we decided that if she went into premature labor, we'd just hop in the car and high-tail it to Orem, but we no longer have a car capable of getting us up there in less than an hour. If anything happens this time, we're screwed.

Wow. Get this--Jordan School District is passing a concealed weapons policy that doesn't limit the use of legally concealed weapons by district employees. At least somebody still uses common sense.

WTF? That's even stranger than when I owned the domain name. =)

I'm thinking about doing this to my Subaru. I went 4-wheeling in a canyon above Kenilworth yesterday and bottomed-out going through a dip in the road, and eventually ended up turning around because my car couldn't clear a rocky part of the road. With a 3" lift and larger tires (including a 6-lug conversion), I could gain about 2" of suspension clearance and 5" of body clearance. Of course, it would have to wait until I got a new vehicle for my wife, because I wouldn't trust her driving a 4-door station wagon with a lift--she'd probably roll the damned thing, because I wouldn't expect it to have very good street manners.

Yeah, I might be a little bit crazy. I already own two Subarus, and I actually wouldn't mind owning a few more. I'd like an older EA81 wagon, and maybe a Brat or two (preferably just like this). The newer WRXs and Legacy Outback wagons and sedans are really nice looking, but they seem a lot more fragile than the older ones. I've beaten the shit out of my '88 wagon, and it takes it like a champ and keeps on going. I'm sure it's seen more off-roading than most Grand Cherokees ever will. =) Of course, when you pay $800 for a car, you wouldn't exactly tend to be as careful with it as a $20,000+ vehicle...

They really should ban weapons of any kind from college campuses all across the nation. Oh wait, nevermind.

I was planning on planting a small vegetable garden this weekend, but I don't think that's a good idea quite yet. It's snowing outside right now, and I haven't been able to finish tilling the soil because of the rain we've had lately. I'm planning on growing everything I need to make a lot of salsa, except for maybe celery--I couldn't find any seeds for that at the store (though I do have some in my spice rack). Traci wants some strawberries and watermelon, and I'm also growing spaghetti squash, cucumbers, and corn. The only thing that sucks is that we're prepared to just stop watering the garden if the city enacts watering restrictions this year. They didn't do it last year, though they probably should have, so I expect that it'll happen this year.

I've been having bad luck with appliances lately. Our KitchenAid stand mixer broke a while back when Traci and I were making cookies--the brown sugar was in a hard clump, and when I dumped it in the bowl, the beater stopped but the motor kept going, and it stripped the worm gear. It's the only plastic gear in the entire mixer, but apparently it's designed to strip when too much load is placed on it. The damned thing cost $22, including shipping, all for a cheap 1.5" plastic gear. Those damned mixers are hard to take apart, too. After spending way too much time trying to figure it out, I got online and learned that I needed to drive out a pin that holds the whole thing together. I had to buy a set of nail punches so I could drive the pin out, and after that it was easy to figure out the rest. I can't believe how much grease they put in the gear box at the factory--seriously, I could use the excess to re-pack the front wheel bearings on my truck.

I was checking out the USMB the other day, and I found out that there may be nothing wrong with the transmission on the '87 Subaru that I bought in January--it might only be the differential. After reading a thread about somebody's front differential locking up, I decided to check the gear oil level on my front diff, and the dipstick was bone-dry. Some day in the next week or so, I'm going to move my truck and trailer out of the driveway, fill the Subaru's differential with gear oil, and take it for a spin to see if that'll do the trick (after swapping license plates with my '88, of course). If it works, I got a damned good deal on the car. If not, at least I won't have to replace the whole transmission. A new set of differential gears should be relatively cheap, and I'll still be able to sell the car for a hefty profit. That is, unless I decide to keep it. =)

Jeez...almost a week since my last update. It's not that I don't have anything to post about, it's that either I don't want to tell it, or you don't want to hear it. Things will probably get a little more regular around here in another week or so.

Speaking of regularity, I'll have to remind myself to never eat another spicy italian sausage sandwich ever again. Especially before driving 20 miles from the nearest civilization on a dirt road. And if you're ever on Cedar Mountain, about ¼ mile past the radio towers, don't pick up any large rocks you see off the side of the road.

Ok, that was probably a little too much detail. We went camping this weekend, near the same place we went last weekend, but only because Mike and Ali came with us. But they left a day early, so we decided that we no longer had a reason to stay out there, and we packed up and came home. I spent the rest of yesterday sitting at home, doing nothing. Today, I went for a long drive, took some pictures, then came home and did yard work.

I think I'll be doing yard work most evenings this week, and hopefully I'll get the weeds in my back yard under control. I'd like to get everything into a state of low maintenance, since I don't plan on spending much time at home this summer. I'd like to spend most of my free time wandering around aimlessly, which I've done a lot of lately when I've gotten the chance, but I'd like to do it a lot more.