Limitations...

So, due to limitations with Blogger, any new posts to this blog can be found at my new site, Insecure Rock Star. Feel free to visit there while the site is still under construction.

What Have I Got Myself Into, or Engine Repair 101

I don't know what possessed me to do it. Maybe it was the liquor speaking....

...but right now I've got a 1994 Plymouth Acclaim parked in my garage, the engine in pieces.

Removing the valve covers and intake manifold...

I'm not a mechanic...I don't ever pretend to be one. When I turned 18, I received a 36 piece tool set for my birthday, which hadn't been opened until this week...I've never changed my own oil, or ever had to change a tire...I leave that to the professionals. So, how did I get myself into this situation?....well, it started like this...

Last summer, a friend of mine was selling his car...he was moving, and didn't need it, as he had recently bought a new one. I offered to buy it, as it was dirt cheap...plus, I was having some repairs done to my vehicle, and as it turned out, buying his car was cheaper than renting one for the week.

When the repairs were done, I continued to drive this vehicle, because it was, in my opinion, a pretty decent car for having nearly 200k miles on it....the engine seemed sound, and there wasn't any serious body damage, outside of the occasional ding, or dent, but nothing that would indicate that said car was over 10 years old....

When a friend of mine returned from the reserves this fall, she was looking for a car to buy....so, reluctantly, I decided to sell. She was a single parent who didn't have transportation, and I felt that she needed transportation more than I needed to have a spare car...I made a deal, and she drove off, happy.

Unfortunately, within about 6 weeks of owning the car, it blew a head gasket....the car sat outside in subzero temperatures for about a month before it found it's way back to my garage.

Guiltily, I offered to help fix the vehicle....so, we went out and bought a rebuild kit from Carquest, a couple of jackstands and a Chilton's book on engine repair....

Now the car is jacked up in my rental garage...the engine is resting on a couple of phone books...we finally made it down to the cylinder heads after two days of pulling, pushing and grunting...I now look at the mess in my garage and wonder if:

#1. Will we be able to identify and return all the parts, nuts, screws and bolts back to their proper location?

and...

#2. Will the vehicle actually start up and run when were finished?

Reaching the cylinder heads...

So far only 1 1/2 cases of beer have been consumed in the process....

Big Fat Comeback "Show"....

Upon the recommendation of a friend of mine, I participated in the open mic show at the Chatterbox Pub yesterday....

It's been almost 9 years since I performed an entire show consisting of original material in front of an audience, so not much has changed from the set list in that period of time....yeah, I've written a lot of new songs, but none that I'm terribly comfortable performing yet....so, I stuck with the old tried and true favorites...."John Tesh"...."Just Get Him"...."Juliana Hatfield"..."Holiday Inn Massacre"....and a handful of reliable covers, including Young MC's "Bust a Move."

I expected to play only about 15 minutes, for which I was adequately prepared....however, due to the fact that I was one of only two people playing last night, I ended up performing for a little over an hour. It was a little rough at first, I had already consumed 88 oz of beer, plus I'm not used to not hearing myself in a monitor, so that added to the confusion....I couldn't really hear my guitar, so I didn't know if I was singing in key, or not...according to those in the know, I sounded fine.

I did forget a few chords, and some lyrics, but like I said, I wasn't prepared to play as long as I did. Overall, it was exhilirating...and as open mic occurs every Tuesday, I expect to be down there for the next few weeks fine tuning my sound, and adding new songs to the mix....Feel free to visit the Chatterbox to see me develop my big drunk show....

Reposted from my MySpace site.

Tooth Part Tooth.

There's a knock knock joke I tell my kids every once in a while...it goes like this:

Knock Knock
Who's there?
Duluth...
Duluth who?
Duluth tooth in my mouth is making it hard to talk..

So, anyways, I mentioned some time ago that I was to get some dental work....well...in true j eastman fashion, even that got effed up.

Now I have to see a specialist. Yep. Apparently, it seems that the root of my tooth is broken off, and the now the whole thing may have to be extracted. Or not. Nobody knows. Not until I see the specialist. That's more than a month away.

So, in the mean time, whatever remained of my previously damaged tooth has been sawed completely off....gone. However, the dentist did give me a "temporary" crown. She advised me not to eat solid food, because this temporary tooth isn't really attached to anything....there really isn't anything to glue it to, so basically it's being held in place by sheer will power. But not really. She expressed concerns about decay and advised me not to use superglue...or duct tape to keep it from falling out.

She recommended a liquid diet. I tried to get a doctors note so I could drink at work, but she laughed, thinking that I was joking.

I wasn't.

So, now the loose tooth in my mouth is making it hard to talk. And eat. And sleep.

It hasn't, however, affected my drinking. So, in the words of Paul Westerberg, "All I really want is beer for breakfast". And lunch. And dinner.