Today, the Catholic world is plunged into that season of fasting and prayer that is called Lent. It begins with Ash Wednesday, where faithful Catholics have ashes smeared on their foreheads with the invocation "From dust you came; to dust you shall return."
For some, this is in stark contrast to the days preceding. Those were days filled with food and revelry. For them, Lent is the end of the party. It is an icy cold shower the morning after a good party.
For all, it serves as a stark reminder that man does not live by bread alone. Whether arriving like the shock of an icy shower or gradually like the onset of winter, we are prodded to examine our own mortality in a world that refuses to acknowledge death. In this death, this silence, we are freed from the distractions of this world to ponder the next.
Memento Mori. Remember your death.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
It. Is. Alive!
Victim:
1998 Volkswagen Jetta Mk III
2.0L 8v ABA Engine - Stock 115HP
Because the Jetta had come in an unknown state and 150k on the odometer, some mechanical refreshing was in order. My first order of business when I got the car was taking care of the brakes. When simply changing the brake pads did not help, I entrusted it to a garage for speed and peace of mind.
The new subject of inquiry was the ignition system. Nothing had likely been changed for over fifty thousand miles, and it was quite probably on the same spark plugs from 1998. I picked up spark plugs, plug wires, a distributor cap and rotor. An adventure was about to ensue.
The VW 2.0 engine has a rather unusual trait: its intake and manifold snake out the front of the engine, over the top, and around the left side of the engine bay. In the process, it makes getting to the spark plugs and wires an interesting and somewhat difficult affair. Also, the distributor cap has little spacing between it and the engine block. It seems like a really cramped design for a relatively roomy engine bay.
I had to acquire two new tools just to get going: a spark plug puller and a wobble ratchet-shaft. The first thing I found was that the valleys that the spark plugs were stuffed into did not give enough room for the spark plug tool to fit around the wire boot. After shaving down the rubber grips, I was able to pull out the plug wire and get at the first spark plug. (Yay! 1.5 hours down!) The replacement spark plug went in fairly easily.
According to the Chilton's manual, I should not need to remove the intake manifold to get at the middle plugs. Don't buy that line for a second. At the very least, it has to be loosened to allow for maneuvering room. However, some creative maneuvering got the other three plugs replaced and the wires removed from the rat's nest that is in under the intake manifold. (Yay! 2.5 hours down!)
My one bit of excellent forethought was in keeping the plug wires attached to the distributor cap. I popped off the clips and pulled off the old cap. I replaced the rotor, no sweat. I thought to myself, "I'm pretty much home free!", but I was about to learn that I was mistaken. I was flat out WRONG!
I put the new distributor cap on, sans clips, and it jiggled around a bit. After fumbling with it to make sure it was aligned properly, I was ready to clip it back on. I pulled on the clip, but it was about 2 mm from cresting the ridge on the cap. I pushed on it. I pulled out pliers. I pulled out more tools. I tried bending the clips. After about an hour, I gave up for the night.
Sunday, I came back with renewed vigor. More pushing. More prying. I tried bending the clips again. No luck. I tried the old cap, but its ridge was in the same position. No luck. More Pushing. More prying. No luck. After a couple hours of wrestling with it, I gave in for the night. After all, the Super Bowl was coming on.
Monday evening, after posting pictures of my problem, I got a little piece of advice. Use a flathead screwdriver or two, and hook it under the clip, and put the tip on the ridge. Use the leverage to guide the clips onto the ledge. After 15 minutes, the distributor cap was in place! Hoorah! I spent some time getting the new plug wires in and got everything buttoned down.
After a prayer, I turned the key. And it fired right up. AMEN!
1998 Volkswagen Jetta Mk III
2.0L 8v ABA Engine - Stock 115HP
Because the Jetta had come in an unknown state and 150k on the odometer, some mechanical refreshing was in order. My first order of business when I got the car was taking care of the brakes. When simply changing the brake pads did not help, I entrusted it to a garage for speed and peace of mind.
The new subject of inquiry was the ignition system. Nothing had likely been changed for over fifty thousand miles, and it was quite probably on the same spark plugs from 1998. I picked up spark plugs, plug wires, a distributor cap and rotor. An adventure was about to ensue.
The VW 2.0 engine has a rather unusual trait: its intake and manifold snake out the front of the engine, over the top, and around the left side of the engine bay. In the process, it makes getting to the spark plugs and wires an interesting and somewhat difficult affair. Also, the distributor cap has little spacing between it and the engine block. It seems like a really cramped design for a relatively roomy engine bay.
I had to acquire two new tools just to get going: a spark plug puller and a wobble ratchet-shaft. The first thing I found was that the valleys that the spark plugs were stuffed into did not give enough room for the spark plug tool to fit around the wire boot. After shaving down the rubber grips, I was able to pull out the plug wire and get at the first spark plug. (Yay! 1.5 hours down!) The replacement spark plug went in fairly easily.
According to the Chilton's manual, I should not need to remove the intake manifold to get at the middle plugs. Don't buy that line for a second. At the very least, it has to be loosened to allow for maneuvering room. However, some creative maneuvering got the other three plugs replaced and the wires removed from the rat's nest that is in under the intake manifold. (Yay! 2.5 hours down!)
My one bit of excellent forethought was in keeping the plug wires attached to the distributor cap. I popped off the clips and pulled off the old cap. I replaced the rotor, no sweat. I thought to myself, "I'm pretty much home free!", but I was about to learn that I was mistaken. I was flat out WRONG!
I put the new distributor cap on, sans clips, and it jiggled around a bit. After fumbling with it to make sure it was aligned properly, I was ready to clip it back on. I pulled on the clip, but it was about 2 mm from cresting the ridge on the cap. I pushed on it. I pulled out pliers. I pulled out more tools. I tried bending the clips. After about an hour, I gave up for the night.
Sunday, I came back with renewed vigor. More pushing. More prying. I tried bending the clips again. No luck. I tried the old cap, but its ridge was in the same position. No luck. More Pushing. More prying. No luck. After a couple hours of wrestling with it, I gave in for the night. After all, the Super Bowl was coming on.
Monday evening, after posting pictures of my problem, I got a little piece of advice. Use a flathead screwdriver or two, and hook it under the clip, and put the tip on the ridge. Use the leverage to guide the clips onto the ledge. After 15 minutes, the distributor cap was in place! Hoorah! I spent some time getting the new plug wires in and got everything buttoned down.
After a prayer, I turned the key. And it fired right up. AMEN!
Monday, February 8, 2010
Saints win Superbowl over Colts: 31-17
The Saint's just won the Superbowl over the Colts last night, 31-17.
For the first time in its forty-plus year history, the Saints not only went to the Superbowl, but won it outright. It was not a game that depended solely on trick plays, penalties and injuries. Instead, it was a great effort by the Saints that landed them solidly on top of the Colts.
The first quarter seemed to be dominated by the Colts, but the Saints gained steam in the second quarter. The second half was kick-started by a daring on-side kick that was recovered by the Saints. Any superior edge that the Colts had seemed to be deflated from that point on. It was no cakewalk, but the Saints had gained the momentum they needed to overcome the Colts.
The final nails in the Colts' coffin were an interception that was returned for a Saints touchdown, and the Saints' stopping the Colts on fourth down near the endzone.
For the first time in its forty-plus year history, the Saints not only went to the Superbowl, but won it outright. It was not a game that depended solely on trick plays, penalties and injuries. Instead, it was a great effort by the Saints that landed them solidly on top of the Colts.
The first quarter seemed to be dominated by the Colts, but the Saints gained steam in the second quarter. The second half was kick-started by a daring on-side kick that was recovered by the Saints. Any superior edge that the Colts had seemed to be deflated from that point on. It was no cakewalk, but the Saints had gained the momentum they needed to overcome the Colts.
The final nails in the Colts' coffin were an interception that was returned for a Saints touchdown, and the Saints' stopping the Colts on fourth down near the endzone.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Google Chrome - Meh...
After about a week of trying out Google Chrome, it went to the great trash bin in the sky.
I'd been using Firefox as my primary browser for about 3-4 years. I'd heard that Chrome was the greatest thing since sliced bread. It turns out that it's not.
The good:
I'm still waiting for something to beat Firefox with its combination of speed, reliability, customization and great plugins.
I'd been using Firefox as my primary browser for about 3-4 years. I'd heard that Chrome was the greatest thing since sliced bread. It turns out that it's not.
The good:
- Fast
- Clean design
- Now with plugins
- Status bar showing the URL of a link is too short. Almost invariably cut off part of the URL, despite having plenty of screen width to do so.
- Could not find an adblock plugin that I liked (I tried two.) I had trouble finding the blockable items to wipe out intellitxt type issues.
- Regularly timed out on pictures that would not timeout on FF or IE. I would regularly see the broken picture icon.
- I'm already perfectly happy with FF.
I'm still waiting for something to beat Firefox with its combination of speed, reliability, customization and great plugins.
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