Finally, Sunday, the 17th of Feb. Got the old KLR out and about the city for some ride time. Just up one road and down the other for about 10 plus miles of city riding.  Had the stock seat on and that's coming off again for the corbin. Also thinking about lowering it an inch to make it more manageable at stops for my older body. 

Checking email last night and see one from Rock Auto that my parts were delivered to my front porch. Went to check and sure enuff, they were there. Now safely in the house are the new front wheel bearing assems for the Vette that just turned 132,000 miles a few days ago. Already have changed the back wheel bearing so next is the fronts.  'Spose to be a bit easier due to no axle shafts but we'll see. ;-). Do like working on that car as it's a challenge for my older brain and body.

Been some nice days temperature wise but muggy cloudy also with the 70 F temps. Then this morning, after another front visits us, 50F at 2:20AM. Yuk.

Yesterday was the 1st time in many years that I watched a NASCAR race. Daytona 500. Good thing it was on the TV above my computer screen due to boredom of watching it. Think it had more advertising and cautions due to wrecks than action. I'll stick to motorcycle racing I'm thinking.


 

How the time flies as you get older. Wow!
Things happened in the last month.
Suzy the Bandit finally got 2 days of road time to the tune of about 220 miles. A break in the weather was the main cause as pretty much healed up from the strains of lifting the klr in November. Won't do that again.
Kill the yeast in a batch of Kumquat wine by turn the heat up instead of down. So only about 5% by volume alcohol instead of the usual 13-15%.  But have another batch of Satsuma wine going and fixing to start a batch of Grapefruit wine. Just need to add sugar today and yeast as it's already in the carboy waiting.
Still have the vibration between about 80 and 95 mph in the car. Probably gonna be the wheel bearing so need to get busy and change out the one on the right rear and probably just go ahead and change out the front also. The one on the left rear was making noise but no play in it so changed it out and it's quiet now.
Then broke a piece of tooth chewing on a boudin ball last week so went and had that fixed at Dr Miller's yesterday to the tune of 215 bucks. Just a month ago had a tooth pulled that was finally starting to give me trouble and that was 180 , then a teeth cleaning that was another 180 bucks. Dental been heck the last month or so.
Good thing is finally reached 2 years since heart surgery and able to quit my high dollar Mutual of Omaha supplement that was 366 a month and going up to 398 next month. New insurance , Cigna, took over and 178 a month. Love that. About a 178 dollar deductible but save that in one month. Omaha sent me a check for what I had already paid and cancel me so that 300 plus bucks was stashed.
Today is Cardio Doc in Lake Charles and need to be there for 2;15 pm so will be leaving in a few hours for that. Hopefully just a stress test  but that didn't reveal much in the past.

So , onwards with the rest of the day.

Here we are > more days fly by.
Cold weather, you can stay up North is my wish. But, more of you on the way, and, still have the month of February to get though yet. But, so far, just a few days of the bad stuff then back to our lovely 60 F winter days.
Not a lot constructive been happening. Oh, up on the roof seeing if I could stop a leak under the carport. Think I found the culprit causing it and stuff some foam and tighten and added a few screws to the area. So, we'll see.
Went ahead and turned in a lost credit card report on one card that I use for mostly internet buys. I cancel it about every two years and get a new one. If any charges pop up after it's cancelled no money from me. Had that happen with one card company a few years back and called them as I had never activated the card they sent and was still charged on it. They paid, I cancelled them for good.

On the car, just burning gas and adding miles.  Think I saw 121,3?? on it yesterday. All is good!
The truck, really need to plan a sparkplug/wire change on it this coming spring when the weather warms up and I'm in the mood.

Today is Dental Cleaning. Yea!  But, one less tooth for her to work on as it was pulled a few weeks back.

The bikes.  Ran them a few times till the radiator fan kicked on and shut em down and rehooked the battery tenders.  Weather and mode just not right yet.  Had thought I had the KLR sold but didn't happen.

Wine making. Well, let the temp get too high on the Kumquat wine and it killed the yeast before I wanted. So, it's a hair sweet, and, low alcohol content. But, people that tasted it liked it.  Next will probably be some more satsuma wine as I've a bunch in the refrig and freezer.  Still have grapefruit to consider yet also. 
Plus, on my visit to Loggerheads yesterday, Jordan gave me some more bottles. The ones with the wire assembly to hold the little stopper on. Luv em.

About covers the last days activities so off to the normal life of seeing what the winds of fate blow my way.

Oh heck! Someone left the North door open and maw nature is creeping in with her coldness.  Yuk!

On the Vette >  after seeing a bit of leaking on the left rear shock doing the rr bearing job, decide to order new shocks as could not see where they had ever been changed in 130,666 miles.  Looked about on the web and decided on some C6 Softride F1 AC Delco from Rock Auto for 272 with shipping to my door.

Installment happened while we were having a couple high 60F days. Job didn't go too bad and learned a lot watching You Tube and even more doing it. As usual, for both front and back, the 2nd one was faster change out than the first one. One test ride and they do feel a bit better but was on mostly smooth blacktop. 





Also finally ordered the correct cable to connect the new Dell with my old monitor. Now, to get in the change out the computer mode. ;-)



Next was a new pair of shoes for me as the old ones were coming apart.  Ordered from Academy on line. And love the feel of them. 





New batch of Kumquat wine coming along and is wrapped in an old electric blanket to keep the temperatures up. We'll see how that works.

Both bikes still dormant since hurting myself near 3 months ago picking up the KLR. Getting better in the waist/back area but the weather is not very appealing to want to get a ride in.  Must be an age thing.

Great Supercross race watched last night and today is the Saint's playoff game.  Win this one against the Rams and Super Bowl bound again.  2 PM so will be in my nest watching.

Only other thing family wise is Bro in Law had another stint put in at the Lafayette Heart Hospital yesterday. Doing good as per niece reports.

So, till the next.

Wow! Hello 2019! Made it to you! Wow!

About all I've done to the bikes it start them and let them run till the fans operated. Still on the battery tenders. But, body is feeling much better after 2.5 months of healing from the " Pick up the fallen KLR" episode.
The truck doing very well and still used pretty much daily.
The car!  Finally got tired of hearing the noise from the back and chase it down to being the left rear bearing.  So , ordered a couple of them.  $238 bucks to my door from RockAuto for 2 plus the axle nuts.

The change out took longer than I expected due to learning process and having to heat things with the heat gun to get them to turn loose. 

But, the car is much quieter again. And, I'll change to other side when it gets bad or the mood hits. 

Last Sunday took a ride to my favorite hide away > Loggerheads on the Calcasieu River between Moss Bluff and Lake Charles. Really coming along on the building. 

Not really crowded so had fun talking to the workers, sipping a glass of wine and heading back to Jennings with a stop at Peto's  near Roanoke for a glass of wine and fun talking to the people there then home. 

Did get started on the Cumquat Wine that is gonna be new to me. Picked about 1.5 gallons from my tree,  sliced them, put them on the stove in a big pot and when came to a boil, shut the gas off and put the egg beater to them. 

Then let the mix cool and more egg beater action. Then strain into a bucket, Then into a 3 gallon carboy, added camden, yeast nutrient, sugar to 1.09 spgr and let sit for a day then came the yeast. Was doing a set of bubbles every 10 seconds yesterday but probably slow today with our 40F temps. But, gonna put the electric blanket on it when I go out there later this morning. 

Then came the generator that has been having a carb problem. Got in the shop and on the bike lift to work on that problem. Took the carb off and cleaned. Took a jip screwdriver to kinda clean the float needle seat.  Drained all the gas out of the gas tank and threw that away.  Put fresh gas ( about 1/2 gallon ) . Put all back together and it started right away. A little adjustment on the carb.  Seems to be running okay but didn't take the time to load it as we were out in the yard. 

So, that catches me up on activities about the home front.  Now, let the Summer get here. ;-) 

The Vette job on the sig lite set up is a done deal and all works.  Drivers side was a learning experience and the passengers side a lot fast and easier. Had turn the ignition on to check if all was working after the driver's side was done and light blinking and coming on and off all over the car. WoW!
So, did the passengers side and got all buttoned up cept for the under neath panel to got to the bulb sockets in case of a problem there.
Next came the removal of the bottom of the dash which was fair easy after watching a video on it. ;-) . As soon as got the Hyper Lite Fix in place in the wiring harness, turn on the ign and checked lights. Was amaze at how much brighter the sig lites were and even more so , everything worked.
So back together with the dash and under the car to put the lower access panels on. Then off the Quickjacks and put them  away and rolled up the QJ power unit and put it away.

The hyper flash correction harness that plugs in under the dash.

The New LED Signal Lite Bulbs

The new Lens assemblies to bolt on to the assembly carriers.

The new light sockets.  Had to grind down on the rubber gaskets a bit to get them to fix and lock into place.
















With that job finished and all tool put away and trash thrown away. Time to feed Luce and I and chill.

That didn't last long as decided to bottle some wine. Transferred satsuma wine to 10 one liter and one .750 liter bottles. Still have some in one 1.5 liter bottle and a little in another. About .5 liters probably. Cleaned everything and marked the bottles .

Next today was Dental and getting a tooth that has been loose for years and was just starting to bother me more than I wanted to put up with. So, a trip to Dr Miller and Joubert's office and Dr Joubert got it out in short time.
Then to Walgreens for pain med sub and that took longer than the trip to get the tooth removed.

Now, looks like soft food diet for a few days to let the hole heal a bit.  No pain though I did take one pill yesterday about 5ish just in case something would pop up as the shot wore off the gum, face and tongue.

To bed after watching For A Few Dollars More and Clint Eastwood on You Tube.

Then starts today. Up at 03:30 and no pain and sipping lukewarm coffee very slowly.

Bout it for the day so till the next.

As time goes by , so does life.
Lower back ligaments getting better as time goes by and can tell I did a good job on it this last time picking up the KLR from flat on the ground. Won't do that one again.

What's happened over the last month? Healing,  problems with the driver's side signal light on the Vette, a ride to a young lady and her mom in the Christmas Parade, another person wanting to buy the KLR but not showing up with the money. Drinking too much wine a couple evenings. And that about wraps up the month.

As per the Vette, problem keeping the light bulb and socket in contact as the socket is pretty burnt and not a year old yet.  So, bit the bullet and finally decided to change out the whole assembly with an LED set up involved this time.  New lens assembly,  new and better pig tails, led bulbs and a hyper-flash corrector harness to go under the dash.
Last piece coming in the mail yesterday and now waiting on weather to hit a warming cycle to get the job done in the cold garage.

Also renewed the registration on the Vette for 2 years and did it online for 21.50. So much simpler.

Christmas parade was neat with the young lady and her mom. Like doing that once in awhile, but it's a " drag the brakes for speed control even at idle " in the Vette.

 Have not been on the bikes for 6 weeks now. Both on Battery tenders and have started Suzy once and the KLR twice.  Thought I might of had the KLR sold so took the mounting ball off and change the corbin flat top seat for the stock seat the guy never showed up so don't guess he really wanted it that bad.  No matter as don't really care if I sell it or not. 

Hating the cold weather times as usual and not getting out and about like I want to but such is life as you get up in age I guess. 

Oh yes, Thanksgiving Day and the daughter's family over for dinner as per the wife's wishes was okay. Still not really big on holidays. Never was really. 

So that about wraps up what I remember for the month and we'll just go along with what happens.