Sites, sounds and smells of a grease junkie

I am not a marathon runner. I am not fast. I am not an endurance athlete. What I do isn't really running. However, I am a human being. With that in mind I dedicate all my miles in the month of April to those affected by today's tragedy in Boston. To those who have died, to those who are injured, to their family and friends, to the EMTs, police and firefighters, to the city of Boston and beyond, these miles are for you.

Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more ti...

Just busy with life. Most of it has been good. Some has been great. A few bumps in the road just to keep my honest. Been riding the bike inside a ton. Feeling like I want to start running again, but the weather this last week hasn't been cooperative. I know, I know I could still run outside, but the prospect of running in sub-zero temps is about as appealing as getting punched in the throat. Call me soft, I don't care. With all the indoor miles I've found I may need to do a mid-winter tune on the bike. Clean off the grime and gunk, just give the bike a good once over. No one likes a dirty drive train! I thought I had more, but I don't. C'est la vie!!!

So Operation V has commenced. I'm not sure what all I'm going to do, but I have done two things. Very simple things, but still, it's something. First I debadged the car. Not completely. It still have the Pontiac emblem front and rear, but the words "Pontiac" and "Vibe" are gone. Gives the rear of the car a nice smooth look. I like a smooth rear. Here's the before image. Not horrible. It looks the same as every other Vibe that is on the street. (Yes I realize I'm talking about a passenger vehicle, not a sports car.) To remove the badges, all I needed was some fishing line, a blow dryer and some 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner. Cut a line length of fishing line, several feet worth. Take the blow dryer and heat each letter. Check the letter so you don't overheat them and peel the paint. Once the lettering is soft and wiggles easily on the paint, take the fishing line and run it through the adhesive tape. It should slice thro...

Project V is soon to be underway. Nothing crazy, but fun nonetheless. I'm looking forward to playing around a bit. I have two things I want to do right away. Should cost a lot of money and doesn't really cost a lot of money either. A few mods I'd like to make will have to wait. Partly because it'll be winter soon and my garage doesn't have heat. Partly because it'll cost a bit more money than I'm willing to part with right now. Adios amigos.

Project V is about to begin! Details to come.