New Camera! New Pictures!

My brother recently purchased a Canon EOS 60D so of course we had to get out and take some pictures. here's what we got.

The Last Time Grandpa Took Me Fishing...

Last year I was asked to share a story or memory that would be put in a family book.  I chose to share the story of the last time I went fishing with my grandfather.  If you grew up in the Sunbury area, you might be familiar with Rainbow Lakes.  If you were to ever visit the lakes then you would have met Gail Jacobus, my grandfather.  He passed away in 2007 and this is one of the best memories I have with him. 

The Last Time Grandpa Took Me Fishing



I feel as if I could write a book myself of all the adventures I have shared with Grandpa, but If I could choose just one story it would be of the last time Grandpa took me fishing.  Most fishing trips with Grandpa started by cramming in the passenger side of the black olds that was already filled with tackle and Bess.  We would then make our way up to the dam at Apple Valley to fish off the rocks.  We would fish all day and usually come home empty handed except for the “large potatoes” from McDonald’s.  But the last fishing trip I took with Grandpa would not start out or end like this.  This would be a day I would never forget.

The day started with Grandpa telling me to fill up the truck.  We would be taking the truck because Grandpa had a “new” boat.  Waiting for the truck to fill up, I kept looking around the farm for this “new” boat Grandpa was excited about.  All I could find was Uncle Jamie’s gold bass boat that looked about ten years old with twenty-five years of wear and tear.  I kept telling myself that we weren’t taking the boat, even as I was locking the tongue on the hitch of the truck.  As worried as I was, I couldn’t say anything to Grandpa as he was especially excited to use his new boat.  Because the live well didn’t work in the new boat, Grandpa had bought a new extra-large cooler to keep our catch.  He wanted to just put it in the boat, but I convinced him to throw it in the bed of the truck so it wouldn’t blow out. 

“He put something in the cooler to weigh it down, right?” I thought to myself as I was loading tackle.

“He must have.”

I was terribly wrong.  As soon as we made our way onto rt. 62 and got up to speed, the extra large cooler instantly became a missile heading towards the white jeep behind us.  Of course, I was the only one to see it.  After a few “Daggunnit’s”, Grandpa decided to pull off and down into the steepest driveway on 62.  I ran back and grabbed the cooler, found a few rocks to weigh it down and threw it back in the truck.  Now all we had to was be on our way.  Grandpa backs the truck up to turn it around, not seeing the pine tree he just ran over, and suddenly mashes the gas to get up the drive.  The truck barely moves. 

“Grandpa, I think your spinning the tires.”

“Maybe." I’ll back it up a little.”

Grandpa backs the truck up about three feet.  I can hear another tree snap from the boat that was on top of it.  I decide to get out and inspect the damage to find an eighteen inch rut from grandpa’s left rear tire in this driveway.  I’m praying that no one is home, and find that the man is watching us from his back porch.  After about a half hour and a few more ruts in a gravel drive, we are back on rt. 62 and headed towards Apple Valley.  The day has just begun.

It’s almost noon and we are finally on the water.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the batteries were charged and the trolling motor worked.  This might turn out nice after all.

“Where do you want to go, Grandpa?”

“The Dam.”

We worked all morning to get the boat and the truck ready, and Grandpa wants to fish the same spot he always fishes! I just laugh and agree.  After a while and a few fish Grandpa decides to move shop. So up to Crappie Bay we go. 

As I’m enjoying my cheese sandwich waiting to get to the next fishing hole, I start to notice the water.  It was a nice day and the water was clear and cold…and getting higher? It was a calm day, but the ripples on the water were breaking of the bow?

“Grandpa, we’re sitting awful low in the water.”

“Ahh, we can check it when we get to Crappie Bay.”

I was on edge.  Were we sinking? Is the bilge working? Did Grandpa install the plug? Was there a hole in the boat?  All these questions were racing through my mind as we neared the bay.  We were definitely sitting really low in the water.

As we neared a dock that grandpa wanted to fish, it finally became clear to Grandpa that we had a problem.  As he lowered the trolling motor, he started to question why we weren’t moving.

“is something wrong with this? Why aren’t we going anywhere?”

“Grandpa, we are sitting on the bottom. The boat is sinking.” I was trying to be calm. The boat was bouncing off the rocks in about three feet of water.

“Hmm.  Did you check the plug?”

I didn’t know that “checking the plug” in the bottom of the boat was my job.  To check it now, ill have to jump in the cold water get half way under the boat and look for this plug.  So, I jump in.  It is cold, after looking for the plug, I find where it supposed to be, but there is no plug.  I jump back in and look in every compartment I can find to look for this plug. Its nowhere. By this point, I’m at a loss for words.   We should have just given up when the cooler flew out on 62. 

We get the bilge working and its starting to pump water out, but the bilge doesn’t help much when there is water coming over the bow.  As I try to rid the boat of as much water as possible, Grandpa is able to flag down another boater.  Once we had the bow back above water, it was time to get the boat back to the truck.  What could go wrong now?   We had lost the cooler once, almost sunk the boat, just start the motor and get me out of here!  Crank, Crank, Crank…But no fire. The motor won’t start.  Good thing the other boater was still there.  He agreed to tow us back to the ramp. 

So here we are, being towed by another boat back to the ramp. Trying to keep the water going out faster than it can come in. after about twenty long minutes; we were back to the ramp. I thanked the boater and he was off.   I was cold, and wet, but happy to be back on dry land.  Once the boat was on the trailer, and we were on our way back towards Johnstown, I was able to take the time to reflect back on our experiences.

          
I would not trade that day for the world.  I learned so much from Grandpa that day.  He taught me to be patient in times of chaos. To never panic.  He showed me that day that no matter what situation you are in, there is always a way to get out.  Anything is possible.  Anytime that I am stressed or feel like I cant solve a problem, I think back to this day, the last time Grandpa took me fishing.

240sx: The Build pt. IV

OK, it's been a while, but I have accomplished a lot on the 240. I have driven it for the past week and I'm quite surprised at how little it needs. here's the updates:



 This is what the front inner fenders look like.  I had to pound and massage that inner lip as flat as possible to get the front as low as I want with minimal rubbing.  Once I took care of that, I was able to lower the front down by about 2".

These pictures give you an idea of how much I lowered the front. In the first picture, I had already loosened the black collar from the shock body and threaded all the way up to the red spring collars. In the second picture, you can see that I threaded the shock in the lower part of the body to effectively lower the car.  By threading the shock into the lower body, I did not loose any travel in the shock.

This is how the 240 looks now.  I'd like to get it a little lower, but won't do that until I am able to roll and pull the fenders out farther.

And here's one last shot I took after driving it to work. 

240sx: The build pt. III

I finally was able to get some real work done on the 240 today. My suspension finally came in.  I chose to go with Megan Racing Street Series coilovers.  I have used these before on another 240 and was very happy with the quality and reliability.

This is a really nice set up. Fully adjustable, 32-way dampening. All the welds looked clean and strong.

Once I get it to the shop, I'll use these camber plated to dial in the alignment.

Not done yet, but I got excited and needed to take a picture. I cannot wait until I get to drive this thing!

Fronts and rears are on! Car is on the floor! Looks good and feels good, but not low enough. Before I go lower, I need to pull the fenders so the tires won't rub

After the suspension was done, I started in on more removal and clean up.  I installed the EGR block off plate(not seen in this picture), and I removed the exhaust to fix a few broken bolts and plug the EGR tube port in the exhaust manifold. Once I'm done with that I'll be ready to drive it.

240sx: the build pt. II

I'm slowly making progress on the 240.  I think the most frustrating part of any build is waiting. First you have to wait until you find the right part. Once you buy the part, you have to wait until the part arrives. Back ordered parts are the most frustrating! I have coilovers and rear upper control arms that have been back ordered since January 28th and a kouki type x front end that has been on back order in Japan since January 18th.

the first thing i had to do was get that nasty body kit off the car.  My goal for this project is a clean oem look, but i still want the car to look purpose built. it will have the full 180sx type x body moldings and markings. Most of those parts are still in Japan, hopefully to be shipped out soon.

The front bumper came in! of course none of the brackets came in, but I made to with what i had and fitted it up with zip ties.  looks good, but will look so much cleaner with the oem brackets and bumper extensions.



If you know me, then you know I can't drive a car at stock ride height.  this is about the stance that I'm going for.  This set up though is not what I'll be using for the drift season.  Once I receive the coilovers, I'll be able to get it a little bit lower and dial in the camber to fit the wheels under the fenders.

The seat is in and mounted. It's a simple fiberglass shell that will hold me in. I mounted it using a buddy club seat mount.

Wheels came in finally. Now I'm really starting to get excited about this project. These are 17x9 5zigen fn01-rc hot version wheels with a 20mm offset. Probably the most popular wheel for the s13 chassis. Can't wait to get tires on them and get them on the car.

I couldn't just let the wheels sit there. i had to get tires mounted and see what they look like on the car.  The tires mounted here are 235/45/17.  I want to stretch a 215/45/17 on the wheels, but haven't found those tires yet. This picture give a pretty good idea of what they will look like.  Still waiting on suspension to tuck those wheels under the fenders though.

Here's the latest picture.  I have the fenders and front bumper off in anticipation for the delivery of the parts from japan. hopefully the coilovers will show up this week and I can get the suspension and wheels set up.

Chi-town Adventure

Last week my brother called me to say that he was buying a car and wanted me to help him pick it up.  Being that the car was a 2000 black civic si, that intrigued me even more. Later I learned that we weren't picking the car up from reynoldsburg, or pataskala, or even newark. We were going to Chicago. Now I'm in.

My seat for the flight wasn't bad. It was about a 50 minute flight from Columbus to O'Hare.  It's different flying in the middle of the week. I feel like my Chuck Taylor's and Ferrari jacket weren't business formal enough.

Walking through O'Hare is a lot different than walking through Port Columbus.  The style and artwork is completely different, not to mention the size of the place. But, off to pick up the car we go.

Just some of the amazing architecture that Chicago has to offer. The city is amazing just to drive through. It's a mix of old and new.  Every block you travel there is something more. I could have taken a hundred more photos of the architecture alone.

Two of my favorite pictures of the whole trip. I was in awe of the monorail system that was right above our heads.

Here's the monorail passing over as we were parking the car. The city was surprisingly easy to navigate as we were in search of North Wells Street and the famous Lou Malnati's.

Opened in 1971, Lou Malnati's has to have the best deep dish pizza in Chicago. I admit we didn't eat any other pizza on the trip, but we didn't have to.  It was so delicious.

Soldgier Field. Enougth said. Home of so much NFL history. I wanted to go in, but I think I will wait to come back to go to a game when this place is rocking. I love how the new stadium seem to be growing out the old, its great.

One last look before we make the trek. What a great city, so much to see. It makes me want to go back and I'm actually already planning the next trip.

These pictures don't do these giants justice, but we found these in northern Indiana along I65.  They are planted for as far as you can see to the East and to the West. Definatley some machines i'll be looking to learn more about, i'd just like to know how much they produce.

The six hour drive wasn't the best part of the trip, but still part of the adventure.  Chicago is such a cool city, I want to go back already...well, when it's warm at least.  Lot's of history, food, culture, and more.

Senate Bill 5...

That's right, this blog is just not about motorsports! It is also a well known political hot spot.  The last few days, I have noticed a good amount of people posting about Senate Bill 5, and so I wanted to educate myself on the issue and provide my thoughts.

Senate Bill 5 is a bill introduced by Ohio senator Shannon Jones. the following link is the article written by Senator Jones: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110218/EDIT02/102190352)

In this article, Sen. Jones explains that Ohio is facing an 8 billion dollar deficit as well as declining tax revenues.  Her solution is to reduce the collective bargaining power of k-12 educators and to abolish any bargaining power from higher education employees as well as other public employees.

There are some ideas in Sen. Jones' article that are clear and valid points.  The current bill hasn't been changed since 1983.  There have been so many changes to our state, economy, world, etc. in the last twenty-eight years that I cannot fathom a bargaining agreement to not have any revisions or changes in that time.

Sen. Jones writes in her article, "I believe that government needs to start living within its means and operating by the same standards of efficiency, accountability and performance as private sector companies. Anything less will lead to greater failure and deeper unemployment."

I agree with this statement; to a point.  I believe that the government does need to live within its means, but not at the cost of the our public employees. Especially not our educators! If our educators do not have a say in what kind of working conditions they have, what kind of health care they, receive, and other benefits, then what kind of education are these employees going to give our children?  when I have children I will want their educators to work in the most productive environments, they should have health care that they need not to worry about, and they should receive benefits that allow them to have a full retirement. I want this for my children's educators because I believe it will give my children the best chance for a great education experience. In conclusion, I believe that public employees should be granted bargaining power.

The problem with bargaining power is that with power comes responsibility.  In a perfect world, there would be no need for unions, because employees would be paid fairly and receive adequate benefits. America has already shown that it cannot treat its employees fairly enough to survive without unions so we know that is not an option. At the same time, the automotive industry has shown us just how much unions can hurt as well.  The automotive unions argued year after year for automatic pay raises for its employees.  These outrageous salaries coupled with poor financial choices by the automotive manufacturers caused the demise of the American automotive industry.  So in conclusion, I believe that these bargaining powers should be regulated and held responsibly.

I want to reduce Ohio's growing deficit as much as the next person, but I believe that Sen. Jones is looking for swift action and immediate results. I'd rather have our senators and representatives work harder to find other means of budget cutting as well as revenue increases. lets not punish our public workers for poor government choices. 

240sx: the build

There it is! Beautiful isn't it? Well, I guess it is in the eyes of the beholder.  This is how the 240 looked when I drove it home last September.  This is my fifth s13 chassis car, so I am pretty familiar with all the little quirks and bugs to be worked out. The most intriguing part of this car being I have had so many before it, is the fact that at this point in my life I will actually be able to drive it at the drift events that it is being built for.  I am building to the car to drive to grassroots drifting events in Ohio and the surrounding states. The car is under the knife right now, but I'll keep you updated with pictures and posts. hopefully more of the posts on this build are about driving the events than building the car.

Garagista, the first post...

What is Garagista?  In the early days of Formula One racing, Enzo Ferrari ruled the series.  When the younger less experienced British and German teams were making their start, Ferrari looked down on these teams labeling them "Garagisti" or "Garage Teams".  These Garagisti would eventually learn to compete and eventually surpass the great Ferrari team. 

So this is my blog, collection of thoughts, memoir, or whatever you call it. My goal is that you will learn a little more about me, but also that I learn a little more about my self.

-doug