Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Upper NE

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Upper NE

Post by Amskeptic » Sat May 28, 2016 6:44 pm

We are in the middle of the fly-in-the-bottle right now, so please forgive me for brief hasty text and heavy photograph dumps.

Since the last time I checked in, I drove from Marlborough CT to Scarsborough ME to visit with foxmon of years-ago front beam replacement fame. Our visit this year was to address his brakes. A new master cylinder and a clean-up of the brake booster was followed by a replacement wheel cylinder and rear brake adjustment, all under totally unexpected sunshine and warmth. RandyInMaine stopped by and it was good to see RandyInMaine again, he reminds me of a meld between Walter Mathau and Maurice Sendak. We visited a neighbor's house to revel in 1961's definition of modernity. I was rude about it, and I apologize.

Rain and chill revisited me as I dove down to Massachusetts to head west across MA 2 through Leominster and West Adams MA to I-91 to book on up to Manchester VT to see aopisa. Here is the bridge over Turners Falls:

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. . . and here is the dam under the bridge over the falls underneath the grey skies:

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I-91 North towards aopisa's proferred more grey skies, but this car is an absolute joy. It is the ultimate stock air-cooled experience if quiet and smooth is your thing. I have been averaging 18 mpg with plugs at the ragged edge of being slightly too white. The last compression test, taken in Portland ME at 51,100 miles showed 120/150/150/150. That is weird, and I am keeping an eye on it. The reason it is weird is that I have gained about 20 psi in two cylinders and lost 20 in one:

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Got shunted over to the southbound lane on the shot old bridge and shot this shot of the new bridge being built in Brattleboro VT:

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. . . and here is the misty next morning at 7:00AM, under the same bridge construction:

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Yes, joylessness in the relentless march of grey days and rain spells, but . . . is that a little spot o' sunshine?

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Drove right out of this rainy gloom, just by climbing a hill:

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With reckless joyful abandon in the new sunlight, I sped up to 42 mph and took this dizzily speeding shot on Vt-30:

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Vermont is beautiful! when it gets above 55* and sunny. See the tops of the hills? They are just getting foliage:

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Here is aopisa's road:

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Here is aopisa's house. I have been driving for two hours across Vermont, and we're just 11 minutes and ten seconds late:

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We had a nice breakfast and good coffee and tore into the current political situation with his alert older son-who-gives-me-hope-for-the-future. Then we got to work:

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It was new door panel day. We made a day of it, too. Here's aopisa attending attentively under the eye of what looks like Michael Jackson Dog:

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Do not underestimate the time we can blow on these sorts of projects. Door latch rejuvenation, striker adjustments, dremeling the horrid chew damage from the last speaker installation, rust-treating the inner door cavities, playing with hole saws for the new speakers to go into the new door panels:

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Way later, way way later, we got the passenger door done. At least we got the passenger door door done . . . note that we are in the garage here, I and aopisa's younger son, the intrepid photographer of the gathering a couple of years ago, a kid who you best keep an eye on because he is going somewhere, we just don't know where yet. We moved the car into the garage because it just had to go rain at least a little on my baldy head:

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I really enjoy this stop each year. We have a beautiful bus to work on, two smart-as-heck kids growing up and out right before my eyes, and we have wide-ranging conversations. What was the hold up? Oh yeah. The holes for the armrests were drilled all wrong. We had to do measuring and cutting and guessing and it was close to a snafu, but I will leave it to aopisa to fill in the current status on the left door. He is all the wiser now, having survived the right door . . . :cyclopsani:

Took off for my parent's house, ever the trepidacious visit as my mom succumbs slowly to Alzheimers and my step-father valiantly ushers her forth to the foggy unknown. Drove along the southern shore of Lake Champlain:

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It is a beautiful drive in the morning sunlight:

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It is a beautiful drive in the warm morning sunlight. Drove right past where my BMW lost all of its coolant one 9-below-0* night long ago. Not today! The Universe decided that I could have some heat finally. Ya want heat? Here's HEAT. Don't like 48*? Here! 89* and 99% humidity ya little whine-baby! I availed of the HEAT to clean the fuel filter, paint the ceiling a little more, paint and detail the door jambs. You must detail the door jams when your car is orange. Every surface! :

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SEE? There is an "effect" you must achieve . . . :

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Will get back to update you on the visit with wdollie6 on June 1st. Meanwhile, I am on my way to visitatin with the "homestead folks" in Woodstock. As I passed through Albany NY, I came across New York Government's proudest architectural accomplishment, the Empire State Plaza, a frighteningly fascistic Nazi-esque Ode To Ourselves, a massive brick of imported marble smashed upon the local vibrant pedestrian communities of Albany, all for only 1.7 billion dollars on a projected budget of just 250 million, Welcome To New York - This Is How We Do It
Colin

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

Jivermo
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Upper NE

Post by Jivermo » Sun May 29, 2016 8:52 am

Yes, that building is an atrocity. The red, white and black swastika flag would feel right at home fluttering away up there, or, draped down from the windows, ala Hermann Goering style.

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aopisa
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Upper NE

Post by aopisa » Sun May 29, 2016 9:21 am

Jivermo wrote:Yes, that building is an atrocity. The red, white and black swastika flag would feel right at home fluttering away up there, or, draped down from the windows, ala Hermann Goering style.
I don't know. I was there one warm evening a few weeks ago and there was something about the plaza that seemed impressive on scale rarely experienced. It felt like everything fit when viewed at 360 degrees. It is a a very good example of Brutalist Architecture which often is done very poorly. Now, I also can imagine that same plaza on -5F degree night with a howling unforgiving -20F wind chill....that would be brutal.

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1977 Westy 2.0L F.I.

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate. - Chuang Tzu

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Amskeptic
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Upper NE

Post by Amskeptic » Mon May 30, 2016 1:43 pm

aopisa wrote:
Jivermo wrote:Yes, that building is an atrocity. The red, white and black swastika flag would feel right at home fluttering away up there, or, draped down from the windows, ala Hermann Goering style.
I don't know. I was there one warm evening a few weeks ago and there was something about the plaza that seemed impressive on scale rarely experienced. It felt like everything fit when viewed at 360 degrees. It is a a very good example of Brutalist Architecture which often is done very poorly. Now, I also can imagine that same plaza on -5F degree night with a howling unforgiving -20F wind chill....that would be brutal.

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Those lovely additional photographs illuminate my complaint beautifully more effectively, the nighttime spots remind me of check points, CHECK POINTZ VERR AHR ZE PAPERS??

But what about your speakers?
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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aopisa
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings From Upper NE

Post by aopisa » Mon May 30, 2016 2:38 pm

Amskeptic wrote: Those lovely additional photographs illuminate my complaint beautifully more effectively, the nighttime spots remind me of check points, CHECK POINTZ VERR AHR ZE PAPERS??

But what about your speakers?
Colin
I really can't take exception to your argument. That giant plaza would be a perfect setting for thousands to be goose stepping past the reviewing stand of the Fürher.

Still, I kind of warmed up to the place. Maybe because I am resigned to the fact that we may end up with a neo-Fascist for a President.

I have been extremely busy. My hope is to get to the driver's door panel tomorrow. Then pics and the write up.
1977 Westy 2.0L F.I.

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate. - Chuang Tzu

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