Wienerbagel Start!

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Ok, been doing a little work on the Wienerbagel. Now that the Scout is gone, I have more time to work on it now.

We are going to gut the interior and change the layout.

I am in the process of building the bed in the rear. The whole motorhome has about 2-3" of spray foam behind the walls. I took the wood decking for the bed out and cut into the rear storage. There will be a lot less storage in the rear, but we are planning on pulling a small trailer with our bikes, kayaks and other misc. stuff anyway, so we are not going to miss the extra space. It is going to open the bedroom up a lot and make for a bigger bed.

The bottom picture is what it looked like when we came out here in it and as you go up, you can see the progress.

Planning on doing away with the propane tanks (as the tanks were in the back storage) and putting a small on demand electric hot water heater in as well as electric heating of some sort.

Thats all I got to say about that.

For The Gripper!

Missing Wheels And Frozen Wieners!!

It has been a long time since I have updated the blog and seriously doubt anyone is following it anymore, but just in case...here we go!

It has gotten pretty cold here. We had a stretch where it got down to -30 (actual temp) with -55 wind chill. It was actually bearable, well at least for me. Joyce was a little cold and the dogs HATED it! The wiener dog gets real slow when it gets down below -10 and she is out for more than a few minutes. Dukes leg (that has the metal plate in it) freezes up and it is hard for him to walk.

Speaking of having difficulty walking, I went snowboarding for the first time. I think I tore a ligament in my right knee. I got about half way down a slope and fell (on purpose because I couldn't turn and almost hit a girl that was crying because she fell). I got around her and couldnt get back up, so I removed my rear boot from the binding on the board. I stood up and was trying to scoot the snowboard so it wasnt aiming down the hill, but it went down anyway and my right kneecap hit the ground. I rested for a bit and then decided to go a few more times and wiped it pretty hard and decided it was time to stop when I couldnt walk anymore.

We made it back to Baltimore to get the rest of our stuff. We were getting ready to drop the dogs off at the kennel and then head to the airport when the drivers side front wheel decided it didn't like the jeep anymore and wanted to go it's own way...at 70mph!! I managed to get it over to the side of the road safely and we actually made our flight even after having the jeep towed back to the house! It was pretty white knuckle. Never found the wheel or the brake drum because we didnt have much time to look.

Made it back here fine after that though.

More vehicle problems and solutions. The Scout we bought was getting to be too much work, so we have it on eBay now and the auction is doing pretty good and we are happy with how much it is up to. The winning bidder so far lives here in North Dakota.

The Ramcharger is having problems with the transmission. I think the torque converter is going up. We got snowed in over Christmas and decided to go out to see how good it did in the snow. It was just too deep and I really pushed it hard. Not too big of a deal. I have been planning on putting a new engine and transmission in it anyway, so that is more incentive for me to do so.

We just picked up a Toyota 4runner today. It is in decent shape and it's 4 wheel drive. Something we decided we need after breaking a CV joint in the little hyundai we were renting while car shopping that got stuck in literally 2" of snow. (don't buy a Hyundai!!). Attaching pictures.

Other than that, things are going pretty good! It has warmed up A LOT the past couple of days.

Now the pics...

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so it was really "snow flakes" ... about 10 of them ... Mother Nature brought them out special for Michael as he was trying to get the front brakes done on the Scout today. But, it was still pretty exciting. I am sure that on December 26th I'll be so sick of snow that I'll take to carrying a blow torch around the yard to get rid of as much of it as I can, but for now, it put a huge smile on my face. Again, I wasn't out side working on brakes, but even Michael was excited. Duke was stoked. He loves snow. The weiner dog... not so much. We took the dogs for their first ride in the Scout today, and I think that the weiner dog was actually trying to burrow under my outermost layers of skin. She is not ready for cold and yet she's about to get a hair cut. She keeps pooing on her fur and bringing her business back in the house with her... its disgusting. We've got a sweater back in Baltimore for her, but she never kept it on for more than about 20 seconds. I have a hunch she may be more agreeable as the temps drop here. The whole family needs new winter coats, including the dogs! I'd get them boots too if I thought they would keep them on. Duke probably would. He loves wearing clothes. Please don't ask me how I know that...

I love the Scout! Its going to be a perfect winter vehicle for me here. The thing drives like a tank, is even more solid that the mercedes was, and it makes you feel a bit invincible driving it. Good thing since I came within about a foot of hitting a dear the first time I drove it. While I'd love a NEW car as much as anyone, they really don't build them like they used to. It glides over these dirt roads like they are nothing, and it needs all of the things that a 32 year old vehicle is expected to need, but all but a few of them will wait for a restoration in the spring. And Michael says this international engine was built to last a million miles. I have a little over 900,000 to go if the odometer is right. Brakes are the highest priority. Michael got the front done today and will get to the back soon. It may be a LOT easier for him in a few days. We went to the tiny auto parts store in larimore today to get a part, and they have a huge shop space in the back for rent. The town is dying a bit and so the price is right (i.e. dirt cheap) if the lady was right about what her husband wants for it. We'll head in and talk to him tomorrow. Its big enough to pull the motorhome into to work on it this winter and anything else that we'd need. Plus, it has heat. :) It would allow him to keep doing all of the work on our vehicles and start a restoration project or two. There are no shortage of classic/vintage/really amazing vehicles sitting in peoples barns out here. I had no idea before I met Michael how much I love old cars, but apparently I do.

Anyway... back to the Scout. Brakes...and then four new winter tires and we'll be pretty good to go. Michael says it will need some exhaust work and a carb rebuild in the future. I'm just excited about the 4 wheel drive and the posi-traction rear end. (Do i sould like I know what all of that means? I don't actually know what posi-traction means, but i think its got it. :)).

Things are good with the lab. I've been busy trying to get the lab up and running. I made a HUGE mistake and placed a very large supply order at the beginning of September. Anything over a certain dollar amount has to go through purchasing and they did a competitive bidding process on all 34 line items. I am still waiting on the stuff, but they may have finally sorted out who gets to sell us what. A bit ridiculous since some of these were $5 items, but this is a state university, and since its one of the only states in the country operating in the black, I won't compain too hard about their penny pinching. Anyway, maybe by next week I'll get this first batch of supplies in! Then I will be able to really get to work. There are students rotating through now though and its pretty exciting for me. I'm working on recruiting a post-doc or a lab tech. I might just hire Michael for the job as he's been coming in with me and doing all of my cell culture anyway! He's gotten very good at it. My student contaminated his first bunch of cells, but Michael's have been consistently perfect. He tells me when i am being careless with cell culture now!

Getting the last of my research from Hopkins published has been a ridiculous nightmare, but I think we're about to resubmit the iPS story to Nature Medicine. Those of you who know how my last year there had been will understand when I say that 1500 miles does little to blunt a tyrant. It just gives them more room for their heads to swell and they take extra care to use a bigger, longer, sharper object to try and beat you down long distance. Am just trying to get through this and not burn any bridges. I've got bigger fish to fry anyway since its time to put my ideas to the test and see what kind of cash I can bring in to really jumpstart my research. I am just finishing my first online study section to review grants for the congressional lung cancer research program. It was a great experience as I am about to start submitting my own. It was a kind of Alice in Wonderland-esque experience to look at grants from the other side. Hopefully it'll help focus my writing.

We're hopefully heading back to Baltimore at the end of the month to finally get our stuff. It'll be nice to have a real bed again. Michael tells me we're going to have to brake down and get a TV to survive the winter. he's probably right, but I have kind of enjoyed not having one. (Shhhh... don't tell anyone.) I'm dreading the trip back and the move and the loading and unloading and unpacking and the whole nine yards. If I didn't have a bunch of sentimental stuff there, i would just leave it in a heart beat.

Ok, going to cut this short for the moment. I made swiss steak and mashed potatoes for dinner and both are about done. Hope it turned out....its late and we're hungry!

c

Random picture taken off of our dumpster back when the weather was real nice.



Took the tow mirror off of the passengers side and removed the headlight buckets to prep them for paint. Kind of like it without them, but prolly should put them back on at some point.



Sprayed the lower part of the truck with spray in bed liner for pickup truck beds. It is textured and dried hard, so it hides the rusty parts pretty good.



Amazing what $11 in quarters will do at the car wash.



This is the day after we brought it home. Notice the black stuff dating back to 2004 covering it?

More pictures! YAY! We picked up a 1977 International Scout II Traveler. It was cheap and runs. I need to clean the carb and get the new brakes on it. Rusty but Trusty. Thats the way things are up here though. Salt on the roads really rusts cars out. We are looking for a better body and we will have a decent looking/running scout. These internationals will last forever if you keep up on maintenance.

You will also see in the picture, the jeep has doors! It has been a cold ride up until now! They are original Jeep doors, so I have to move a bracket so they fit better, but at least I don't have to keep running outside to cover it up with the car cover from a Honda Prelude that came with the jeep! The Scout gets priority right now because Joy doesnt have a car since the Mercedes has been put away...for good. (well, looking for a good donor truck of some sort to transplant the diesel engine from the mercedes into).

Anyway, Hope everyone enjoys the pictures. Will post more when I get a little more time. While we have what is considered a broadband internet connection here, it is still not quite as fast and posting pictures takes about 10 minutes each set.

It is supposed to snow here on Thursday and Friday. Dosen't look like it is going to be a lot of snow, but its still snow! Weather here has been about the same as Michigan in the fall time, maybe just a little cooler this past week. Quite a temperature change though. Just last weekend, it was 80 and sunny and this past week it has been getting down in the 30s at night and 40-50 range during the day.

Well, technology hasn't been my friend as of late. I had my laptop hard drive fail on me and the desktop I have as a backup (hardly used) was acting up, so I haven't been keeping up on this.

I had a ton of pictures that I had dumped onto my hard drive on my laptop that I wasn't able to recover. I had to pull the laptop hard drive and I installed Ubuntu (Linux) on another laptop I had and was able to recover most of my important data, but not a lot of the newer pictures.

Anyway, It is Joy's birthday today and we went to her first auction! It was a lot of fun! We got an antique dresser, a smoker/grill, a stool (that I picked up because I was tired of standing at the auction and needed a place to sit), a water fountain thing and we got a few things for free. All for $30.00 We really needed the dresser so we don't have to hang as much up now. It had a small area on the top that had some water marks on it, so as soon as we got it home I sanded it down and we just got done putting new clear coat on it. See pics.

Other than that, things are about the same. Joy has been putting her lab together and has been doing a lot of reorganizing and cleaning up there. She has a student at her disposal now to help out and learn.

The weather has been pretty steady in the 80's during the day and getting down in the upper 50's at night. Could not ask for nicer fishing weather! I have caught a few decent sized Rainbow Trout in the Turtle River. On the other side of the field, we have access to the river which is actually walking distance (but I drive). It is a lot closer and there are a bunch of deeper areas in the river where the bigger fish have been hiding. I catch a ton of little Rainbows and Shiners every time I go, but only occasionally do I get a decent sized one. I am going to need to get a pair of waders here pretty soon to continue fly fishing. I have a pair of wading shoes that I have been wearing with shorts, but the water temp is getting pretty cool and I have noticed in the past week or two a decrease in water temperature.

The dogs are doing good. Duke has a new friend who's name happens to be Duke also. Gets kind of confusing when I am trying to get our Duke to come in the house when the other one is here. Duke has been spending a lot more time outside playing. The wiener dog is not amused by the other dogs because she feels threatened by them, thinking we will pet them and not her.

Well, here are some more pictures. Some of the sunsets here, some from fishing and some other random things.

Enjoy!

And Even More...

This is the old Philco 49-1609 radio we picked up for $10.00 in Larimore from the antiques lady. It is in good condition. I sanded the case all down and have restained it. I stained the lighter colored parts too, but do plan on going darker with them because it has too much red in it from the mahogany. I have the rest of the staining and varnishing to do on it and then I will replace the speaker grill cloth, cut some pieces for the back of the cubbys on the bottom. I am going to replace the 3 way input selector swith with a 5 way switch. (now it has phono, standard broadcast or AM and FM). The other 2 selections for it will be for an iPod and one for a satellite radio which will be great for those who want to experience the warmth of music being piped through the tubes combined with the clarity of the satellite radio or iPod. Will post more pics of it when I get it done.





YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!! WHY AREN'T YOU PETTING ME????