Cruise to Big Bear

This weekend I finally got to do something fun with the car again. Its been a real drag not having any autocross events or anything to go to. I had to start by driving down to San Bernardino (120 mi) to meet with the rest of the group. When I got to the meeting place, I was only 10 minutes early and the parking lot was empty. I sat and watched as a bunch of older cars drove by (apparently part of the Route 66 Cruise) and waited. Right about 10 am the next car drove up, both of us were surprised that we were the only two there - and so we waited. About 10 minutes later about a dozen more came around the corner. We talked for a bit to wait for any stragglers and then took off for Big Bear Lake. This was the route we took as far as I remember. Starting at B and ending at C (~100 mi). The other part is rom my entire drive (~340 mi). We went to the lake and hung out there for quite a while, the lodge we were at was having a BBQ and one of the members owns a timeshare there so we were able to get tickets. Some of the group rented boats to go out on the lake and the rest of us chatted and played in the rec room. When we were done at the lodge we went down to the Alpine Slide (http://www.alpineslidebigbear.com/). I have to say it looked like a lot of fun and I'll have to try it next time. I think the original plan was to go back out the way we came, but that changed and we ended up making the big loop instead. Here is a picture that was took as we were coming out of the mountains. I am hoping that some of the others got some good pictures, most of mine didn't come out very well. Next weekend is off to San Diego for the speed fest.

Buffed

The cars paint was starting to look little old so I decided to try to do something about it; like I tried with the truck, but less extreme (more on that once it looks better). So I went and bought the best Wal-Mart buffer money could get - it actually feels like its pretty good quality, I also got the other stuff - wax, clothes, extra buffer bonnets, etc. I am pretty happy with the results so far, I didn't pull it out of the garage yet to see how it looks in the sunlight.

This is what the roof (worst part) looked like - car was washed Saturday, so none of its dust.
And this is what it looked like after some buffing - Way better! I think it might need a little more, like I said, I haven't had it out in the day light yet.
I also gave it a try on the hood, but it didn't show a difference like the roof did. Probably because its in a lot better shape.

And that was how I spent this weekend.

More wedding pictures from the Best Man

http://www.ddm-production.com/photography/trinkle_wedding/index.html


Thanks Yosh!!!

1 month...Well almost.

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I had been on here. A few things happened.

1. I got married.
(Photo courtesy of Mike and Robin Short)

2. Went to the Cat House.

3. Got the worst sunburn I have had in a long time in Santa Monica at the beach and lost my sunglasses in the ocean.

4. Finally went riding again. Its not overly hot if you go at 6:30 am.

5. The car turned 125000 mi today, and I have to say its been running really well lately.
I might remember something else later, but that is all for now.

Tetris

I think this is where the video games payoff. I finally seem to have room, even with the mess that is still there, to get in and out of the car parking it either direction.

Before:
This was how it was (the worst way), I had to climb over the Predator to get out of the garage. I also tried putting the Pred back by the door, but you could still only use one door of the car and had to park it kind of sideways.

After:
The only problem at this point is the Pred is a little hard to get out. I think I might make a rolling dolly for it. Of course if I go ahead and get a washer and dryer, they will go right where it is sitting. I'll just deal with that when it happens.

Quake

All it really felt like here was the ground shaking like Jello. The some details are below.

LOS ANGELES - A strong earthquake shook Southern California on Tuesday, causing buildings to sway and triggering some precautionary evacuations. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The jolt was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego, across the border in Tijuana, Mexico and slightly in Las Vegas.

The 11:42 a.m. quake was initially estimated at 5.8 by the U.S. Geological Survey but was revised downward to 5.4. More than a dozen aftershocks quickly followed, the largest estimated at magnitude-3.8.

The quake was centered 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles near the San Bernardino County city of Chino Hills, and was estimated to be about 8 miles below the earth's surface.

California is one of the world's most seismically active regions. More than 300 faults crisscross the state, which sits atop two of Earth's major tectonic plates, the Pacific and North American plates. About 10,000 quakes each year rattle Southern California alone, although most of them are too small to be felt.

Flood Video

This is one of the many that are on YouTube: