Nothing Short Of A Miracle...

I've decided that my jeep is possessed with spirits.Why? Because for reasons which don't match up with any form of logic, the gauges on my jeep are now working! See the photo below...

What happened? I took out the old gauges and replaced them with the new ones. I checked the gauges before I bolted the cluster in the dash and they read incorrectly (the gauges said I had a full tank when I only had half a tank). My dad helped me troubleshoot the each gauge and everything checked out...but when I put the cluster together, the gauges didn't work.

I decided I was tired of troubleshooting and bolted the cluster in anyways....and guess what? The gauges now work correctly! Why this works...I have no idea. Nothing happening here matches any of the instructions I have for this project.

So I've decided there is something living in the jeep...and whatever it is...as long as I keep it happy, the jeep will keep running. Either that or its a 28 year old vechicle built by a company that is now out of business :)

Oh yeah....notice how the gauges look just like the stock ones? That's because I took off the new face plates and replaced them with old ones (I had to use a pair of tin snips to modify the old face plates). As good as new (or old I mean...)!

Now It's Time To Go Sailing!!!

Michelle and I recently completed an ASA 101 sailing course through Seaforth Boat Rentals. We are now qualified to rent sailboats up to 26 ft. in length. The photo below shows our ASA log book on top of the sailing book we used for the class (I borrowed the book from my dad).

Next step? We need to get some sail time! We want to explore both the Mission and San Diego bays.

Our ASA 101 class covered the basics of sailing. Now I want to spend some time sailing with my dad. His experience sailing Star boats will help us understand the fundamentals of getting the most out of the wind. Dad, when do you want to go sailing? Maybe during spring break next week?

Alive Again...Sort Of

The jeep is back and running. What did I learn? 28 year old cars will have sketchy issues. I ended up putting the old gauges back in and everything was cool. Now the fuel gauge is reading too low....go figure :) -- at least I can drive.

The Gauge Is In!

On February 10 I posted a story about my dad helping troubleshoot a problem with my jeep. Today the replacement gauge came in. I hope to put the dash back together this weekend. I'll keep you posted about the progress.

7-Day Forecast for Latitude 32.73°N and Longitude 117.24°W (Elev. 200 ft)

I found a cool site that forecasts weather for up to seven days for any given location. Below is a link to the 7 day forecast for Point Loma. This is the same forecast you hear on the NOAA weather radio.

7-Day Forecast for Latitude 32.73°N and Longitude 117.24°W (Elev. 200 ft)

Be Prepared

We always knew we should put an emergency kit together in the event of an earthquake or other natural disaster but the recent tragedy in Japan motivated us to do something about it. This weekend Michelle and I created a survival kit including food, water, tools, first aid supplies, and other items. It turned out it wasn't that difficult since we have a lot of supplies on hand due to camping. We created a plan for storing water and food, made sure both Michelle and I knew where key tools are located around the house, and made copies of important documents (birth certificates, house papers, etc....). We should be good to go.

We even found an emergency radio which bought for our neighbor who loves gadgets.....its pretty cool - it runs on solar or a hand crank and it charges cel phones and is am/fm and a weather radio. You can even plug your ipod into it and use it as a speaker!



In case you haven't heard...I'm into this non-fiction kick where I love reading manuals. That is part of the reason why I took the short-wave radio test...I was having fun reading the book on it. While looking for the items above I purchased a cool "survival guide" which talks about wilderness medicine, building shelter, and other interesting things to know.

But....I also found a book that talked about EXTREME survival strategies designed for the "end of the world" which included chapters on the following:

• growing your own "freedom garden" for when the global financial crisis destroys our economy
• securing your house (for when the civil war comes)
• building a "barter stockpile" of items to trade with others when money means nothing
• designing an escape route for when you can't take it anymore and need to "get out of dodge"

I want to be prepared but yikes thats a little too scary :)

Happy Birthday Dad

Michelle and I enjoyed spending the weekend with our family. I would like to thank Michelle, Aunt Carol, Uncle Cappy, Uncle Ken, Aunt Janet, mom, Andy, Amy, and Jesse for making our dad's 80th birthday a very enjoyable one. Happy Birthday Dad!