No hole in the bucket, but my window wasn’t working in the Jeep. Drivers side.  Real handy for getting into the parking garage and going through Drive-Thru’s (if I actually did that any more).  I thought for sure the motor was burnt out, it had been binding up a bit lately and I figured I over  taxed it.

I was back and forth on fixing it and having someone else fix it, and no, Jess didn’t ask “Dear Henry” to fix it.  She was fine with having someone else do it.  But after I bought the motor at NAPA, I didn’t know how many garages would put on a part that they didn’t provide?

A friend at work felt bad for my inadequate mechanic skills and said he’d look at it on a lunch break at work. (Thanks Peter).  We tore the door apart, I couldn’t even manage that step, and discovered the motor still worked.  With the lunch hour gone, we left it there apart to do more homework.

Bless the Internet.  Peter found a step-by-step for Jeep window motor replacement and Saturday morning we tackled it at his place.  Since the motor was fine, we just took the regulator out and put it back together in working order.  Fixed a spot on the window we thought it was binding on and sealed it back up. Done.

Now to take that NAPA part back. (Though it’s tempting to keep to use in a Arduino project.)

See, I'm helping... someone had to take the project photos!

Almost.

Nathan has been wanting a pet for some time, but we wouldn’t even consider anything that had… fur.  I’d take a snake, but Jess wasn’t so keen on that.  There’s always fish, but they take a lot of work and you can’t handle them so much… I don’t think? So we settled on a lizard.  We (Nathan and I), wanted a Water Dragon… but when we learned they grow to three feet, that would mean a six foot cage… uh… not in this house.

We thought we were going to get a Leopard Gecko, but after we saw the Crested Gecko tonight and learned about it’s care, we were sold.

No name yet… any suggestions?  Comment a name.

Mum, don’t scroll down.  It might still look too much like a serpent to you.

.

.

.

Yup, he/she is a wall climber.

I actually remembered the Jeep Registration this year. On time!  We always go over with both our vehicles for some reason. Busy?  Probably the biggest reason I remembered it was the fact that I still have a repair to do before I can get it inspected.  And they all come at once for the Jeep, Insurance, Registration, Inspection.. generally all following Repairs.

Anyone want to install a Window Lift Motor? Yes, its an inspect-able offense.

Good till 2010, sounds very SciFi-ish

Video from the Ragged Mountain hike in Camden.  Yes, I know the soundtrack is monotonous, just like the grueling, grinding hike up the mountain. [Click the photo to view the video on Blip]

Nick ponders as he takes in the view.

..would you?

So today I had the chance to teach my boy something we did as a kid.  Jumping off the roof.  We just received about eighteen inches of snow, so the banks were high and prime for a roof launched landing.  I grabbed the ladder and packed it in the snow and up we went.  I was quite surprised he jumped off so easily, it was about an eight foot drop, add four feet up to eye height and that can be a bit intimidating.

When we came in, he said “Mum, guess what we did!”.  And wouldn’t you know it.. she said, “What? Did you jump off the roof?” Mothers know everything.

[Click the photo to watch the video, if it doesn't play, click SELECT A FORMAT underneath and pick Flash]

I believe I can Fly

When I was in seventh grade I played the male lead role in a play with the same title as this post. That’s all I remember about it, the title.

Last night the wind slammed the house and banged and knocked on the logs into the morning.  We woke to snow and lots of it.  My plow man got stuck with the plow truck so he brought the tractor over to dig the truck out.  We shoveled around the tires and under the plow, but in the end it was me giving the heave-ho shove that un-stuck the big Ford.

We ended up with just over sixteen inches I guess.  Barely a spot to put the last scoop.  We have seven foot banks and the mail box is gone again. But, on the bright side, its fairly warm out and the driveway is already clearing down to the pavement.  Now let’s see what Friday’s storm has to bring.

The storm came knocking last night.

And it wasn’t from me (this time).

We came home from church last night and before I went inside, I fixed my garage door that wasn’t latching. (yay!)  When I came in, my head was clear from all the fresh air I had just breathed and I was met at the door with an unpleasant smell. “Smells like a dead rat in here!” That’s never a good sign.

I had cooked scallops for lunch and we figured it must be the pan or the packaging that went “sour”.  We puttered around some and then I finally was sick of looking at my dirty dishes, so Jess and I tackled them together.

Then she noticed it.  One of the burners was still on.  And not burning!  I had turned one way down low to keep my Alfredo sauce warm and it must have gone out… at 2PM!  Thankfully, the burners have a very, very, low setting and it wasn’t “leaking” much gas.  We opened a window and let the smell of the storm clear out the thicker inside air for a while. (No, I didn’t forget to close the window).

Of course there is really only one [cheap] way to find out if the gas is cleared out.  Light the burner to take a blog photo!  Biff, we wouldn’t mind it if you stopped in unannounced at any time, but I’m glad it wasn’t with all your gear and friends today.  Considering earlier today someone lost their garage down the road to a gas fire, it’s sobering. God is good.

Still have some gas, sooo the tank wasn't emptied into the house

Another “result” of changing the spending habits around here.  I used to enjoy an occasional $1.89 Virgil’s Cream Soda, but those extravagances are a thing of the past (for now).  Now I’m back to Wal-Mart twelve packs, about $0.21/can.

I have to have caffiene free, otherwise I pay for it in loss of sleep.  So my options are fairly limited.  I used to drink Sprite way back in the day [read: eighth grade], but with a [new] Lemon/Lime drink on the scene, I had to give it a shot.

There really was no real sense in being blind folded for this taste test, I knew Sprite all too well, I just wanted a side by side, immediate comparison.  Sierra Mist came out on top, care to disagree or just want to mention your favorite drink, mention it in the comments.

Sierra Mist, my new Lemon/Lime drink of choice

One of our favorite chicken dishes around here is Butter Chicken. A real simple dish.  Here… here’s the breakdown…

• 9×13 pan
• a package of chicken tenders
• a stick of butter
• a couple eggs
• crackers to crumble, at add salt/pepper/garlic powder

Bathe the chicken in an egg bath, roll in the cracker crumbs, lay in the pan.  Slice the butter and distribute it across the chicken.  OK, if a whole stick is excessive, leave a few pads for the baked potato.

Bake for thirty minutes or so on 400F and enjoy.

We usually use Ritz crackers, but Jess isn’t eating flour or sugar, so we used Nut Thins instead (Rice crackers).  I had to crush them in the food processor, but they made for a much crunchier coating.

Mmmm, buttah chicken.

Well, I was beginning to wonder if it would ever come.  We hadn’t had any plow-able snow until today.  Not sure what we received, maybe eight inches.  I worked from home today, and we all were pretty much suffering from being pent up.  Any excuse I could find to leave the house, I was going to jump at.  I received a photo order via Brown today, so I felt it was my duty to deliver them in a timely manner. Time to try those new tires out!

We busted to Bradford and visited with family for a bit before we made our way back to Charleston.  The traffic was light and the tires did great.

How much did you get? Comment your snow depth if you care to.

Night driving after a snow storm