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Here are some photos of the 2021 "piano" recital. Terra only had 1 student at the end of the year and they joined in with our 4 kids. Terra likes to teach piano lessons so that she can keep our kids playing.
This year Kyle played the guitar instead of the piano. I am not sure if he liked playing the guitar better than the piano, but he enjoys the guitar so there is that.
On the last trip that Terra and I made to Resturaunt Depot in Tucson, we purchased a 11 pound block of chocolate. It reminds me of the bar we used to have in the freezer growing up. This is not Ghirardelli, but is Callebaut, a belgium chololate. It is made for melting and pastry work, but the kids love it anyway. Here I am cutting it up prior to freezing it so that is is usable in smaller blocks.
Terra took Landen and the younger kids to the Thing after a basketball game and these pictures are from the "muesum" that you can tour with your ice cream.
I have not made it there yet. For some reason it seems harder to go visit local attractions. I also have not made it to the Kartchner Carverns yet either. Perhaps one of these days...
Landen is playing basketball this season. Landen is on the B team for Pomerene and he is a substitue for the A team when they don't have many players. So far he seems to enjoy it. One of the games I watched, he scored half (4) of the team's 8 points. He is number 32.
Rachel is also playing basketball for Pomerene. She is a starter on the A team. She is very aggressive and usually plays under the hoop. She is the best rebounder on the team due to her aggressive playing style. She is number 22.
She also is the team's inbounder. When there is a need to throw the ball in she is the one that performs that job. I am not sure why, but that is what happens.
Rachel made this for me. It is a candy jar that I keep at work. For some odd reason it doesn't stay full of M&M's for very long.
We have found a spot that we like to drive out to in a local wash to dig a fire pit, cook hot dogs and do some shooting. A few weeks ago we found a warm Saturday afternoon and decided to take advantage of it and make the drive. Rachel built the fire and really enjoyed the shooting this trip. Unfortunately, Serra slept for the majority of the time we were at the wash. She slept through the shooting and woke up just in time to get a hot dog and cook some marshmellows. The kids really like playing on the bank of the wash. Oddly enough, even through we dig a spot in almost the same spot every time we visit, we have yet to find any remenants of the previous fires.
A vendor at work, Burns & McDonnell gave out some books on WWII. I was looking through the book and I came across this photo along with a caption of the USS Lexington burning prior to sinking during the battle of the Coral Sea. Jim Smith was aboard this vessle when is was sunk. He was likely on the boat when this photo was taken.
This past weekend found me doing a little more work on the Jeep. I rebuild the Power-Lock rear differential limited slip locker. Finding the clutch plates was a bit of a challenge as Willy's Works in Tucson told me that Dana no longer makes them. They turned me on to a guy in Washington State that still makes them. I wrote him a letter and he sent me a set. Getting the bearings off was a bit of a trick, but with a grinder to make slots for a bearing puller and a torch to introduce heat into the inner races, a cold 20 degree morning aided in getting the races off the locker. I suspect I will re-install the new bearings the same way. Wait for a 20 degree cold morning and put the new bearings in the over and heat them up to 350 then slide them on. Stay tuned for the results...
One odd thing I noticed, is that the first set of clutch plates is cupped such that it acts like a spring to provide preload to the locker. This is the force the gears need to overcome in order to engauge the non torque supplied wheel. According to the book the clutch plates I remeoved were in backwards. This means either it was rebuild in the past incorrectly (I doubt it), or the book is wrong (I also doubt it) or the discs were installed backwards from the factory (again I doubt it) or somehow I mixed up the orientation as I removed them and reversed them when I removed them. Anyways I put them back in according to the orientation described in the manual.
Ethen came down for a Saturday and we went to Tucson and pulled an axle out of a similar year mustang and then brought it home and swapped it with the axle in his car. The rear end ratio was 2.6 and the new ratio is 3.55. This different ratio fixed both the speedometer issue and the wrench light issue, effectivly fixing the main problem the car has had since he aquired it. This was a difficult item to pinpoint, but finally solved. When you purchase a used car you never know the issues the previous owner induced that you will have to chase down.
| Here are some photos of the 2021 "piano" recital. Terra only had 1 student at the end of the year and they joined in with our 4 kids. Terra likes to teach piano lessons so that she can keep our kids playing. |
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This year Kyle played the guitar instead of the piano. I am not sure if he liked playing the guitar better than the piano, but he enjoys the guitar so there is that. |
| On the last trip that Terra and I made to Resturaunt Depot in Tucson, we purchased a 11 pound block of chocolate. It reminds me of the bar we used to have in the freezer growing up. This is not Ghirardelli, but is Callebaut, a belgium chololate. It is made for melting and pastry work, but the kids love it anyway. Here I am cutting it up prior to freezing it so that is is usable in smaller blocks. |
|
|
|
Terra took Landen and the younger kids to the Thing after a basketball game and these pictures are from the "muesum" that you can tour with your ice cream. |
| I have not made it there yet. For some reason it seems harder to go visit local attractions. I also have not made it to the Kartchner Carverns yet either. Perhaps one of these days... |
|
|
|
Landen is playing basketball this season. Landen is on the B team for Pomerene and he is a substitue for the A team when they don't have many players. So far he seems to enjoy it. One of the games I watched, he scored half (4) of the team's 8 points. He is number 32. |
| Rachel is also playing basketball for Pomerene. She is a starter on the A team. She is very aggressive and usually plays under the hoop. She is the best rebounder on the team due to her aggressive playing style. She is number 22. |
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|
|
She also is the team's inbounder. When there is a need to throw the ball in she is the one that performs that job. I am not sure why, but that is what happens. |
| Rachel made this for me. It is a candy jar that I keep at work. For some odd reason it doesn't stay full of M&M's for very long. |
| |
|
|
We have found a spot that we like to drive out to in a local wash to dig a fire pit, cook hot dogs and do some shooting. A few weeks ago we found a warm Saturday afternoon and decided to take advantage of it and make the drive. Rachel built the fire and really enjoyed the shooting this trip. Unfortunately, Serra slept for the majority of the time we were at the wash. She slept through the shooting and woke up just in time to get a hot dog and cook some marshmellows. The kids really like playing on the bank of the wash. Oddly enough, even through we dig a spot in almost the same spot every time we visit, we have yet to find any remenants of the previous fires. |
| A vendor at work, Burns & McDonnell gave out some books on WWII. I was looking through the book and I came across this photo along with a caption of the USS Lexington burning prior to sinking during the battle of the Coral Sea. Jim Smith was aboard this vessle when is was sunk. He was likely on the boat when this photo was taken. |
| |
|
|
This past weekend found me doing a little more work on the Jeep. I rebuild the Power-Lock rear differential limited slip locker. Finding the clutch plates was a bit of a challenge as Willy's Works in Tucson told me that Dana no longer makes them. They turned me on to a guy in Washington State that still makes them. I wrote him a letter and he sent me a set. Getting the bearings off was a bit of a trick, but with a grinder to make slots for a bearing puller and a torch to introduce heat into the inner races, a cold 20 degree morning aided in getting the races off the locker. I suspect I will re-install the new bearings the same way. Wait for a 20 degree cold morning and put the new bearings in the over and heat them up to 350 then slide them on. Stay tuned for the results...
One odd thing I noticed, is that the first set of clutch plates is cupped such that it acts like a spring to provide preload to the locker. This is the force the gears need to overcome in order to engauge the non torque supplied wheel. According to the book the clutch plates I remeoved were in backwards. This means either it was rebuild in the past incorrectly (I doubt it), or the book is wrong (I also doubt it) or the discs were installed backwards from the factory (again I doubt it) or somehow I mixed up the orientation as I removed them and reversed them when I removed them. Anyways I put them back in according to the orientation described in the manual. |
| Ethen came down for a Saturday and we went to Tucson and pulled an axle out of a similar year mustang and then brought it home and swapped it with the axle in his car. The rear end ratio was 2.6 and the new ratio is 3.55. This different ratio fixed both the speedometer issue and the wrench light issue, effectivly fixing the main problem the car has had since he aquired it. This was a difficult item to pinpoint, but finally solved. When you purchase a used car you never know the issues the previous owner induced that you will have to chase down. |
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