Will there really be a payoff at the end of this?.....

Goddamn, it's been over a year since my last post. I've come to terms with my job. That and they pay for schooling. For whatever an employee wants to take. So, I'm back at school again (big sigh...) in pursuit of an IT degree. It's only the second semester and at this point I wonder if I can keep this up, working full time and taking 12+ credits per. It's an insane grind. What if, like the wind turbine stuff, I get through the program and can't get a job? Was all this for nothing? Will it be time to accept the fact I'm a failure and trying to better myself is a waste of time and effort?
All while I'm trying to keep my life on course, I'm planning on buying a house in the next 4-6 months. As if I don't need something else placing more pressure on myself.
I had four resolutions for this year
1. Buy a NEW car trailer.
2. Loose all the weight I put on last year.
3. Pay off the rest of my debt.
4. Buy a house.
Four months left in the year, the only thing I've accomplished thus far is buying the trailer. Debt progress has been slow and the house thing, I don't know. And instead of loosing weight, I'm still gaining. IDK, I guess I'm just ranting here, venting. Suicidal Tendencies sang "85% of life is what you make of it. So, if your life sucks, you suck". Apparently, I suck. Good to know. No catgirl stuff this time around. Getting depressed and don't feel like digging through the HD, so I'm gonna watch some anime and hit the sack.

Returning to normal. Slowly.....

It's been a rough several months for me and I think I MAY have finally turned the corner. Things with the truck, racing, and even my usually reliable tow rig haven't been going well. And then there's the mess that I've allowed my life to turn into. I've been really trying hard to dig in my heels and stop the back-slide and it's finally starting to work. I've still a long way to go and even though I'm back on my feet, my step is pretty wobbly....

The 2000 GMC Sonoma I named "Akuma" (japanese for devil) is done except for a few mechanical items and has hit the track for a couple of events. I attended the Michigan Mile standing mile race @ the battle creek air show.  A standing mile run has been one of my bucket list items. I managed to get to around 140 mph and Akuma should've gone faster, but the valve springs were laying down the engine @ 5000 rpm. The next day I attended an autocross @ GVSU and came in last in class. Last in the class I run in is to be expected when you run against a bunch of small boosted cars on race tires. But since I do this just for fun, I'm not bothered by it. It went pretty well, except for the Auburn Pro-Series diff I installed. The thing's been totally worthless. Coming off a corner if I apply throttle too hard, it lays down "single tire fire" something fierce. Because I've had it over a year, but only have maybe 100 miles on it, I'll probably have to pull it and send it in. Right in the middle of my season. I knew I should've gone with the tru-trac.......

Anyways, that's that. Here's a shot of the truck as well as a couple of vids from the events mentioned. Wrapped up with a few catgirls images.

Video:

Michigan Mile runs

autocross @ GVSU

Where has the time gone?......

Jesus, I can't even remember the last time I posted..... I'm still employed, but looking for something else, because I'm done with living the "third shift life". I haven't found a wind turbine job and am beginning to think I never will. And then there's the fact that I've noticed I don't move as fast in the mornings or recover from injury as quickly as I used to. That's right, I've realized old age is setting in. I'm not sure climbing 400+ foot tall turbines is something I should be doing at this point in my life. Well have to see. Maybe if I could lose some weight........
The new toy is progressing nicely. Should have it ready by the end of April for an open drift test and tune, if everything keeps going well. The "Vega427 army of perfect little plastic women" anime figure collection has grown out of control. I've no room on the shelves and somewhere north of a dozen piled on the floor in front of my dresser. I could rotate them, but I'd rather display them all, there's soo many awesome ones!!! Well, that's all the time I have for now, I need to finish my laundry and get to bed. I have to report to work and hour early tonight...... Fuck, I hate third shift!



I hope to be able to return to posting regularly! (not that anyone reads this crap anyways.....)

What;s so hard about doing your damn job?!

It's been a year at my current place of employment. For the most part it's gone well, but (there's always a "but" isn't there....) the last few months it's gone down hill. Really ever since we lost out teamlead. The dude was a bit crude (sense of humor), but the guy was a hell of a teamlead and an awesome worker all around. Of the teamleads on the other shifts, one tries to do a good job, but is the kind of person that manages to push peoples buttons, so nobody likes him and the other guy just doesn't give a damn. Anyways, some shit went down and they cut out lead loose after 9 years of service. Of course no one really knows why. I thought it was bullshit, but what can I do? Anyways, his replacement is a decent worker, but certainlly not teamlead material. I'm not gonna air out my dirty laundry about this person. After all it's not important to the subject of the post. Working with two other shifts is nothing but a pain in the ass! The previous shift does only what they have to (and sometimes less), and the following shift bitches about what they come into. I'm ready to go back to employment with a single shift. The only thing I'll miss about the current place is the optical and dental insurance. I get a fresh chunk of coverage at the first of the year, so I'm gonna see the dentist and optometrist after we come back from the christmas/new year shut down, get some work done and then I'M GETTING THE HELL OUT OF THERE!!!! I can honestly say that I throw down harder than anyone else. Bar none. I've had it with the bitching, whining, and complaining (I'm a bit guilty about doing some of that....) We're grown-ups here! You know what you need to do. JUST DO YOUR FUCKING JOB AND SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!!!!


On a lighter note, I made it to a couple of events with the new toy and had a blast! I made a few changes to the front suspension after the charity autocross in the last post (springs/shocks/perf. alignment) and it was a completely different animal. Lots of grip and almost no pushing. Weight transfer was controlled and minimal. However the rear was crap. The worst of it was severe brake hop, that on the last run was so bad it popped the tailgate of the hinges and my water bottle out of the cup holder.
Video here

Pic from the most recent event:

 

Plans for over the winter include a new box, bumper/grille, paint, and a 3-link for the rear.

That out of the way. Time for some catgirl stuff. I feel I should state that I don't own any of these images, as I have no artistic talent whatsoever. I grab all of them from a couple of places of the web.

Where does the time go?......

It's been a while, hasn't it? I still employed and due to turnover, I've the highest seniority on third shift. I've been an employee since late Feb!
Still haven't had ANY sucess in finding a wind turbine tech job......... And the rust-belt life the 'Bu led has cost it its life. After a long battle this spring, a bunch of issues along with the baddly rusted frame rails, it was time to move on. A 2000 GMC Sonoma ZQ8 is the new toy, of course using the engine, trans, and other parts from the 'Bu. I made it to a charity autocross and drag day @ US131 for its first time out. The drag racing was fun as it was the first time I've ever been down a strip. My best time was a 14.44, with a terrible 60' time because it was so hard to launch the truck without spinning the tire and /or encountering wheelhop.
Anyways video follows....
Autocross runs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3cQXdEqpDQ&feature=share&list=UUIlTN3R4S7ko99p9ogIZa1Q
Drag racing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwqiHBHh1RI&feature=share&list=UUIlTN3R4S7ko99p9ogIZa1Q

Here's a shot of Akuma (its name.....) from the autocross

I'm hoping to hit a drift event yet this year and am looking forward to that. I need to do something with the rear suspension, but am unsure at this time what I want to do. Anyways, I guess it's time for some catgirl action......

Jesus..... What the hell?

April was my last post? Really? Wow, fuck me runnin'. It seems like yesterday. Sort of.... Anyways, My army of perfect little plastic women has been exploding in numbers as of late. I have the three large shelves filled, even the top of my dresser is full and there are probably more than ten on order. Curse you, Japan, for making so many cool figures that I can't live without. I'm lying if you hadn't guessed...... 
After a long and frustrating pre-season, I'm yanking the plug on the 'Bu. It's going to be replaced with a 2000 GMC Sonoma ZQ8 stepside. I'll be re-using the engine, trans and a bunch of other bit from the 'Bu. Kinda excited about it. Autocrossing, drfiting, and track days with an 81 4-door malibu was baller, doing the same things with a compact truck is just gangster.
I got tired of bummin trucks off friends and family to haul my stuff, so I ponied up some cash and bought a 92 GMC Rally van G30 with a 454. The thing is ENORMOUS! It's one of those 15 pass church bus van. I call it Levi, short for Leviathan. By the way, Big blocks rule........
GM is going on shut-down next week, so I have a weeks vacation. Fucking awesome. I'll be spending most of it working on the Sonoma. Boring ass post, but other than the change in toys, nothing has changed in my existence. Once the Sonoma (I really need to come up with a name for it....)build gets going at full steam, I'll post up more frequently(implies anyone actually reads this....).

So there you have it. And now, you guessed it.

And for good measure, a shop'd 3D catgirl...



Long time no see, eh?

Damn, Jan 14th was my last post eh? To catch up on the unimportant stuff, I'm working receiving currently. Which is WAY better than line driving. And I'm now formally a Dakkota employee! So many people who sarted with or before me are gone now. Other than our team leader, I have to most senority on my shift..... I'll be getting my "paper" from school in May and have even had an interview! I should know in a week or two if I get to move on to the next phase.

The 'Bu is ready for battle, save for a clutch. I made some pretty radical upgrades this winter that I think will make the car quite a bit better. Out back I went down 50 lbs in spring weightand installed an Auburn Pro Series posi in place of the mini-spool. Up front I installed 1" longer ball joints upper and lower to improve the dreaded G-body camber curve, followed by a performance alignment, and added brake cooling scoops to help at track days. No more finishing at the back of the pack for this cat!

I've been thinking a lot about where the catgirl obssession came from. The earliest thing I can remember is Usagi-chan de Cue!, a 3 episode OVA chock full of jiggly breats, panty flashes, and a pretty good fight scene between a catgirls and a bunnygirl. The catgirl, Koshka, is one of the hottest catgirls to appear in anime. Definately a top three spot. The next step happened when, while searching the 'net for figures, I probably happened upon a catgirl figure (at this time I can't remember which one....) and as they say, the rest is history.
Koshka:

Hard to believe, but she almost looks hotter in the anime.....

Not that it really matters when the obssession started. The important thing is that it did. I've been hammering out some ideas for the Comipo! blog, but it takes me a while to figure out how I want to layout the frames and then there's the time to do it. That's all for now. He're the cats!:



Livin' the third shift life.......

I've been back at work for 3 months now and, except for the first 2 or 3 weeks, I've been on third shift, or overnights if you will. It's been a difficult chage. The biggest issue has been sleeping. Today, I had the second consecutive day of decent sleep since I started this shift! I actually feel like I might be able to do this after all. Working the 3rd shift isn't all that hard, it's living the 3rd shift lifestyle that sucks. You're up when everybody else is asleep. The good thing about that is when you go to the store, it's like a ghost town in there. No standing in line! Days off, during the winter, you freeze your arse off at night and sleep when the furnce is running. The upside will be in the summer. I'll be sleeping when the A/C is cranked during the day and working in the cool of night. Over all, it's kinda boring at night on days off. Like I said everybody's asleep, I really can't go out to the barn and work on stuff, because what if something goes wrong? It's not like anybody's around to help..... And then there's race season next summer. A lot of the events are on sunday. I start my work week sunday nights at 9:30........ Which means I either take monday off or go to work having been up for better than 24 hours. I guess it'll depend on how much vacation/personal time I've acrued by then.
I finished my last wind turbine tech class, getting a 3.5 for grade. This means all my grades were 3.5 or higher for the program. My overall GPA is 3.75. Even though I'm back to work locally, I'm still going to start job hunting for a windsmith job. I'm making pretty good coin, but a windsmith job will pay way better.
Enough of that crap, he're the cats!

What a coupla months.....

So, two months since my last post and a good bit has happened. After two days at Demmer, I started looking for a new job. One month of working in that hell hole, I found something decent, started the testing and stuff to get in, and got laid off from Demmer (YEA!!!!). Two weeks later I started at Dakkota Integrated Systems, a tier 1 supplier for GM,working third shift "sequencing" at Plant 2. It's a fast paced job, with little idle time. An eight hour shift goes by in no time. It's such a better job and place, you really can't make a comparison.

On the racing front, I went to a second track day at Gingerman Raceway, a couple of more drift events, and a bunch more autocrosses. However, I began losing the clutch at the last run of the year @ US131. That will make clutch #5 for this car. Somethings gotta change. I'm good and tired of changing clutches in this car. I'm either going to a 12" ro a twin disc.

Oh, and the figure collection has grown WAY bigger. I recently had to add a couple of shelves and will run out of room again in a couple of months. Oh well.....

Well, I guess that's all for now. I'm thinking of hitting Meijers in a couple of hours to grab an XBOX 360 w/ kinect  on sale for $200. Anyways, It's nekomimi jikan!

Sore wa hisashiburidesu,-sōde waari?

Damn, it's been like a month since my last post. But I have been working my new job during that time. A crappy one, producing parts for military vehicles. That's right folks, I'm a bonafide factory worker. Fuck me....... I always thought I'd hate line work and I was right. What a horrible job. I was so tired of being on unemp that I thought, How bad could it be?..... How little did I know. Anyways, been workin', racin', and schoolin', and adding to the figure collection, now that I'm back to work. I up pics later. I'm out. Peace bitches and here's the good stuff.