Happy Nevada Day!

Some fun Nevada facts:

Nevada is the most mountainous state in the Union.
Samuel Clemens started using the pseudonym "Mark Twain" while writing for a paper in Virgina City, Nevada.
Richard Nixon's wife Pat was born in White Pine County Nevada.
Nevada's official state flower is sagebrush.
Nevada was one of only two states to enter the union during the Civil War.
Nevada is the only state to celebrate the day it became a state annually.

The Unannounced Transvestite

One of the most recent projects I've been working on is getting a set of construction drawings completed for the restoration of a railway station in a town about 13 miles North of where I live.

My client had an architect that he wanted to use so a few months ago I began calling and e-mailing this architect. From our conversations I had imagined a smaller, very professional and intelligent man. The work I had seen was great and he seemed sympathetic to historical projects.

This week he came down with his office staff to meet face to face, walk the site, and hash out some details. He called when he reached my office so I left the other project I was working on and drove over. I went upstairs and as I reached the door to my office I noticed what appeared to be two women sitting at the table. One stood up and introduced himself and then his wife. Luckily I still had my sunglasses on so I hope some of my shocked expression was covered.

Come to find out he is not only a licensed architect, he is also a bar owner, caterer, and publicly practicing transvestite, all out of the same building.

Of course.

The Unicorn

Do I blame it for ruining my life one year?
Yes.
Does it change the fact that these are gorgeous cars?
No.
Should I quit test driving them?
Probably.

*sigh*

What's this for? (Blazer Report #3)

All the major parts are back, and this coming week re-assembly of the block should begin. The heads are still with Wally, and a few of the parts I need have not appeared yet. However, I think I can still see the beginning of the end of this project. As I have found out I might not have marked my bags of bolts as well as I thought I had. Wally told me to just put all the parts in a box and shake it until it is all put together. It might be my best bet at this point.

Now, I have known Wally for a long time and he has always given me good work at a more than fair price, but he has yet to tell me what it's going to cost me for all the work he's done on my engine block and heads. On top of this project I have been doing the regular things on my other cars. Currently, I'm in the middle of a brake and A/C project on the wagon along with an oil, filter, and valve adjustment job on the ever faithful bug (not to mention registration and insurance premiums). With the parts boxes arriving daily and the impending bill on the Blazer my dreams seem to be frequented more and more by this guy.


Wish me luck....

When I feel rich

On a late summer evening, laying in the back yard

The last remnants of a passing storm gently rock my hammock

The mountain-like clouds of the eastward retreating storm reflect the last rays of the westward traveling Sun

The reflected light from the thunderhead falls calmly over my right shoulder and instead of turning to gaze at the towering storm clouds or the golden sunset I pick up my book

The distant thunder softly calls for my attention, but I don't listen

This is when I feel rich

I better vet this

I've succumbed!

When I arrived at BYU one of the first things I noticed was that at least 3/4 of the guys -and a number the girls- wore polo shirts. Case and point, this BYU Library commercial. (Just count them, I saw 10!) I thought it was ridiculous! I mean where did these people think they were going, an up-scale badminton garden party or -in the case of the striped variety- a rugby match? So with few exceptions I wore a t-shirt to class 'til the day I graduated.

However, I discovered (or re-discovered) something during an internship in California: apart from Old Navy commercial models nobody in the rest of world seems to wear polo shirts unless they are playing polo, going to an up-scale badminton garden party, or trying to look dressy casual at work (or fighting terrorism and leading the free world, apparently).

Trying to find what you wear to work when you are your own boss has had me perplexed for the last little while.

Am I sitting in the office? Yes.

Am I traipsing around dirty job sites? Yes.

Am I meeting with clients? Yes.

(Am I still stuck at a dentist office part of the day? Also yes.)

Due to the dirt and conditions, I really need to have a pair of jeans on. My button up shirts generally ended up looking pretty shabby by lunch with all of the walking and dirt.

I still don't condone wearing a polo shirt just for fun, and that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Something to Remember

Where was yours truly last Tuesday night?: try some great seats at the Paul McCartney concert in Utah! That's right, the Sir Paul McCartney. The weather was nice, the crowd was good, and it was all topped off with three great hours of non-stop Paul. The 68 year old played the whole three hours without a break or drink as near as I could tell, only pausing to tell some great stories and to make us laugh. It was a fantastic concert.

I was a little skeptical that Sir McCartney would just be old and that the concert wouldn't be very good, but I couldn't have been more wrong. What a performer! It was thrilling to be in the presence of this amazing musician.

Years from now I will be able to tell my children that I saw Paul McCartney live in concert.

This clip is from his Liverpool concert, but it was the same bit he did for us (best version I could find).