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08:55 pm
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Mira v.2
After 6 years, the old fur on my skunk head was so bad in places that I couldn't tell which way the pile went. The eyes were pretty bad shape too. So I ripped it all off!
And this is the result!
Current Mood:  relieved
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11:07 pm
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Subaru
I've gotten used to driving the Subaru and after having some serious buyers remorse I rather like it now. It helps that I drove my Corrado last weekend and on my way home the radiator fans stopped working shortly before the dash lights went out so I couldn't even tell if the damn thing was getting too hot without my flashlight.
Anyway... it's a very different driving experience than the older car. The controls feel vastly different. The Corrado has a mile long shift throw (seriously like 6 inches from 1-2 or 3-4) but it's generally smooth. The Subaru shifter is very notchy but has a much shorter throw. It resists going into reverse unless shifted directly from 3rd gear sometimes, which seems to be common on these cars. All of the pedals feel different too. In the Subaru, the clutch is a lot stiffer but the brake pedal is a bit more sensitive. The Corrado brakes much harder if you step on it but new Hawk HPS pads are on the way for the Subaru. Handling is very different due to the AWD and stock suspension. The Corrado has a lot more grip and better handling but the WRX can corner pretty well when power is applied. I think the WRX could beat the Corrado with similar suspension mods, but for now the WRX would be left in the dust on a twisty road. The Subaru is also prone to turbo lag, and no amount of boost will help below 3000 RPM.
Still, the Subaru wagon is loads more practical, a lot more reliable, still looks fairly good, and faster once the turbo kicks in, so I will keep it. :)
Current Mood:  content
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09:46 pm
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WRX Get
I bought a car yesterday! :)
Mostly stock except for wheels, uppipe, downpipe, and Cobb accessport. It goes zoom!
Current Mood:  excited
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10:01 pm
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Corrado Fail
My Corrado has been grumpy lately. After nearly a year of reliable operation things have been going bad. A few months ago my clutch went bad which required transmission removal. On Sunday I dropped my car off at a mechanic to check on a persistent noise I have been worried about and check in on an idle issue.
So my damn car decides to take a shit at the mechanic's and start making horrible noises. I had just determined the day before my longstanding mysterious whining noise was timing chain related and as soon as its in the mechanic's hands the chain guides (or worse) fail hard core.
Now I would have discovered this at least 6 months ago if the fucking retard lazy ass mechanics at Streetwerke actually gave a damn and looked into the problem I brought my car in for. I had them examine this whining sound and they determined that it was probably normal. Umm... no. I knew it sounded bad, but I tried to ignore it because of what the mechanic said. Now my car is getting the tranny pulled $$$again$$$ and I am hoping that my valves aren't crunched.
Current Mood:  aggravated
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08:37 pm
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Car mod
Just installed a rear stressbar from Autotech onto my Corrado! It works! No more creaking back there and it feels much more solid. Now to install the front!
Current Mood:  pleased
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09:11 pm
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A Day in Pittsburgh
( An epic Saturday afternoon at Anthrocon )
Current Mood:  cheerful
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03:07 pm
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What a difference a day makes
Wow! Thursday at AC went great! Most of the day was pretty low key but it went pretty well. There are a lot of new suits here and people I don't know. It seems that self made fursuits have gotten a lot more common now which meakes for more variety. I got in my suit and had fun being a cuteskunkie. For some inexplicable reason, pink seems to go especially well on skunks. Well that's what I hear anyway... I wouldn't have any first hand experience there. No... really...none I swear!
Current Mood:  giggly
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10:00 am
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T-Minus 2.5 Hours
I'll be in the air flying to Pittsburgh soon. Somehow I just don't feel excited, like its just an ordinary day after only getting 4 hours of sleep again. Perhaps I am getting jaded (this will be my 20th or 21st furry con) or just don't want to get my hopes up. It just doesn't feel real. I have been looking forward to this for months but now... boom, nothing. I think it has somethin to do with goin there alone. Pepe is working and I don't think I will meet any other furs on this leg of the flight. I also didn't get any work done on my fursuit despite having literally years to get on it. *sighs* At least it can still be combed enough to look good. Oh well, I'll probably cheer up when I get there. I'm lucky to be going anyway.
Current Mood:  contemplative
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09:53 pm
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Going to AC and Fixed Car
Turns out my ttansmission problem was just a broken clutch afterall. One new clutch later I am back on the road!
And in other news, I am going to AC! See you there if yer goin!
Current Mood:  okay
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06:19 pm
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Damn it!
Took my car to a mechanic. It's not just the clutch. The transmission itself is flat out broken.
Now I have the option of taking to a guy that can replace and rebuild the transmission. He has rebuilt my type of transmission over a dozen times before. This would cost around $2000
Or I could find a rebuilt or used transmission online and have the cheapest place I can find install it for me. This would probably be cheaper but it's hard to say by how much.
Current Mood:  disappointed
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09:42 pm
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Damn It!
The clutch in my Corrado just went out. Damn car won't move an inch now. Gotta call a mechanic tomorrow.
Current Mood:  annoyed
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11:17 pm
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Califur room?
So Pepe and I have been thinking of going to Califur. Does anyone have room space there and/or space in a car to ride there and back?
Current Mood:  curious
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10:59 pm
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The Vanagon lives!
Well after a near fatal oil leak and a bunch of other issues over the past few months, we are finally going to take the Vanagon on a camping trip up the north California coast *gasp*. I hope we make it!
Current Mood:  hopeful
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01:01 am
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Tonight was interesting
But not really my thing. I don't think I will be going back.
Current Mood:  sleepy
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03:53 pm
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Long overdue posting
I just got home from the Mountain View Parade where I got to wander around and wave to people in fursuit. :) The kids seemed to like the skunk but they kept wanting to climb up my standing tail when I was kneeling down!
Otherwise so much has happened that it is hard for me to even remember it all!
Last weekend I went to Kiba skunk's birthday party which was lots of fun. The next day was also neat day as I got to go to Kelley Park in San Jose to see a vintage VW show. (Click for photos) There were a lot of very nice cars and I had a good time even though it was HOT and I was tired from partying late the night before.
Other highlights include a very fun party in Hayward for Tsuyoto's birthday party and a few other fun parties which I am having trouble keeping track of.
Probably the best weekend was the the incredibly packed weekend of March 5-7. It started with Opulent Temple Massive w/ Carl Cox on Treasure Island which was all kinds of awesome. I had the best time there! From there I drove up to Pinole and stayed the night with Pepe. Later in the morning we rushed out to meet a group of VW Corrados (me in my Corrado and Pepe in his Cabriolet) and we headed up to Point Reyes for the Old School VW meet. This was catered mainly to Pre-93 water cooled VW's but had a few cars from other years and makes attending. I had been looking forward to this for the past year and it was worth the trip! (Click for forum with photos) Later that day I went up to visit my dad in Santa Rosa and he surprised me by taking a trip out to Russian River, Jenner, and the coast. It was super beautiful and I was amazed to go see something amazing for the third time in three days!
A lot more has happened but in general, weekend life has been pretty good lately. :)
Current Mood:  amused
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12:26 pm
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Wind!
Last night was very windy! I have never been blown around quite so much as driving the van last night after Chairo's rather awesome party. Me and Pepe gave two furs a ride home to San Fran and San Bruno. Going up 880 and then over the Bay Bridge into San Francisco was pretty sketchy. It was about 4:00 am and the wind and driving rain made staying in one lane challenging with wind probably in the 40 mph range, with even faster gusts. The van's heat simply failed to work! I think the relatively exposed exhaust heater boxes were being cooled off to fast from he heavy wind and rain. The thermostat is broken so the engine is always being maximally cooled. I am not sure if that motor ever got up to operating temp last night. I'm just glad we made it home safely. Last night was about as bad as driving weather gets around here, or at least as bad as it gets without fog.
Current Mood:  hungry
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02:21 am
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Music
Where would I be without the internet? I remember my freshman year in college back in 1999 when I "borrowed" some music files... actually all of the music files that were shared on the local network. That was the first time I listed to trance, and I immediately fell in love with it. My musical tastes were instantly changed forever, as if I had just never heard the music I was waiting for until then. I had the entire Paul Okenfold - Tranceport album which for many years I thought was just amazing. I still have a soft spot for that kind of music. It took me a while to figure out he was just the DJ and the tracks were not performed by him! Later I would see him at the Cow Palace following the Chemical Brothers, performing a thoroughly mediocre act. He faded from relevance since then.
Fast forward to today and it has been almost 10 years since I first really heard Electronic music, or Electronica, techno, or whatever the hell you want to call it. I've ventured a little ways into rock and some other genres but despite occasional ups and downs I still listen to music produced by computers much more more than music made by other means. Still, the level of sophistication of the music I listen to has increased dramatically. The simple old style trance with its repetitive beats and relatively bare synth sounds seems old and outdated although some of it is still quite good when I am in the mood.
Now Pandora is my DJ, and I don't even know what to call a lot of the music I listen too. Whatever it is, I'm really enjoying it! I can find incredible music without even knowing that it existed. The stations play mostly only music I want, and I don't have to sit through a bunch of bad songs to get to the ones I like. Oh yeah, and its 100% legal and free. I suppose this isn't news to many people anymore, but I think it's just incredible looking back and comparing just how much better and how much more enjoyable listening to music has been since I became free of commercial radio almost 10 years ago. I really do think Pandora and other music services have improved my quality of life. I know I wouldn't enjoy my job nearly as much without it.
Current Mood:  satisfied
Current Music: DJ Shadow channel on Pandora
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07:03 pm
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FC Recap
Somehow I missed the crazy awesome time everyone seemed to have at FC this year. I can't find fault with the con. Everything was about as good or better than in the past. Now I did have some really good times, especially on the Monday trip up to San Francisco with some Florida furs! I just felt like I didn't do a lot of things I wanted to and drama reared it's ugly head a few times, ruining large parts of Friday and Saturday nights when I should have been having fun partying. Also waking up every morning with hangovers was not fun. I didn't go totally nuts drinking but I still went at least a little overboard every night. I remember when I used to drink a lot one night of a con and have hardly anything on other nights. Now it seems like quite a lot of furs drink heavily and more often than before. At least I didn't loose my memory this time.
Despite the bad times, there were several highlights. I was most impressed with FNL (best one yet in my opinion, but many seemed not to share it) and the 2nd floor parties. Static's party was impressive but way crowded! The Klingons were making good drinks and having an awesome party. I hope they show up to the new hotel! The cub party on the second floor was *really* impressive with huge carebear blankets covering every square inch of the walls and decorations on the roof and all over. Good drinks were served as well. It was like walking into an alternate world. I just wish I spent more than a few minutes in there. Next year I want to try to spend a little more time at single parties rather than bouncing around quite so much. It's just hard to stay anywhere when you know there are so many other cool people to see and places to go. The other highlight was definitely going to San Francisco and taking photos of a few fursuits in Marin overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. It's the second time I have done this and was still awesome! Photos will come soon!
Also Pepe got to debut his new fursuit head and paws which he made in just two weeks. It came out surprisingly well for a second effort! It was fun to walk around with both of us in suit and see him discover many of the things about suiting that I almost take for granted now. :)
Current Mood: okay
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02:15 pm
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Thursday and Friday half
I think this is con number 20 for me! Anyhow, so far it's been going well with nothing overly exiting going on. Thursday started out with unpacking a van full of stuff in our room and waiting in the terrible line of doom. After something like an hour I finally got registered and wondered around for a while meeting friends and looking for people. I still haven't gotten into my fursuit but Pepe got to debut his new raccoon partial which looks really good! He made the head in 9 days right before the con! Otherwise I just hung out with Whitepaws and his friends and ate at Denny's, impressing a few furs by drinking some kind of tabasco sauce straight out of the bottle.
Today I just picked up a new Marci badge which I was a little disappointed with, especially after spending $40 on it. Blueneeko fixed my Dell laptop screen after encountering problems with missing screws and a too wide replacement screen. It just drove him crazy that it was not a perfect job but I am really happy with it! Overall I've been having a moderately good time, but not a spectacularly good time. I think it says more about how good I have it on a regular basis rather than a comment on the con. Fursuits, furry friends, and furry parties can be enjoyed on any given day. No need to wait for a con.
I'm off to the dealer den and then I need to get in fursuit!
Current Mood: okay
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12:52 pm
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Weather WTF!
The weather has been GORGEOUS the last week or two and all of a sudden Further Confusion rolls around and now we are supposed to get rain every day *AGAIN*! What gives? This has been the driest January in a very long time, so guess when nature decides to make up for it? Yeah...
Current Mood: annoyed
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mirawais's journal