vw update

We almost lost her to a tree limb.

As of yesterday she's down off the blocks, with five speeds and a new clutch. Time to gussy her up and try to make a sale... maybe we'll go cruising first though.

Rabbot

update on car restoration:

-fixed wiring to fuel stop solenoid (engine turns off when ignition is shut off!)
-new(ish) seats w/ better seatbelts and electric bases (1990's technology!)
-new (rebuilt) fuel injection pump
-new (slightly used) shocks and struts - not yet installed

minor setback
-dash lights are out. one lowbeam headlight out. tail lights are out. i think they're all connected...



no more vinyl w/ ducktape.


i'm getting really good at installing the injection pump.
so is boy.


in other news, we found wolaver's!

Jesse is here. Mostly we eat and sit around. We've gone to the top of Mount Tam and today he and George went to the Marin Headlands. Also they fixed the Rabbit.

Links to things:

Mount Tam
Marin Headlands
Rabbit
Pie crust
Sweet potato fries
Pacific Catch
Japanese Joinery

Toxic slick: coming to a beach near you...er.. us.

Last Wednesday a container ship ran into the Bay Bridge, dumping 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel oil into the bay. As for the cause, it's being attributed to "human error," which is believable and there was some serious fog that morning, but honestly--it's not like those pylons are tiny and they're equipped with radar. It's scary to think of what the marine life is going to be like around here in the coming years. In the meantime, officials seem to have everything under control.

George continues to pluck away at the Rabbit without much luck. The fuel lines have been replaced with stronger, clear tubing so it won't degrade as quickly from the biodiesel and we can see if the fuel pump is actually getting fuel, which it is. This afternoon his focus is on the fuel pump and whether something is amiss with it; he bought the pump used, but (supposedly) resealed from a fellow on ... ebay? craigslist? and has since emailed him to see if he can shed any light on the subject. Or find out if he got ripped off. Whichever. We're hoping it'll magically get fixed by Tuesday night when we have to head to the airport to pick up Jesse!

Yesterday we spent our rainy afternoon listening to Agatha Christie podcasts. Last week I painted the underside of our loft (which is the ceiling for the dining area) and it ended up a greenish yellow that Geo describes as glow-in-the-dark paint that doesn't glow in the dark. That's pretty accurate. This week I'll paint our new window shelf and then take a few pictures so you can watch the evolution of our weird apartment.

Part two: other stuff

Saturday night was a 40th birthday party for George's boss at the local winery. His wife is good friends with the owner, so he closed it down so we could have dinner there which was provided by the Puerto Rican restaurant Sol Food. Usually hanging out with the Coutures is entertaining and enjoyable, however this time is was the Coutures and the rest of their friends, who--aside from the other guys in the office--are all about 40 and from Marin. It was an awkward evening that with every "oh what do you do?" conversation drove home the feeling that we don't belong here. We don't have kids, we don't own a home, have a modern car, I'm not a contractor nor a designer, George isn't a business wheeler-dealer or wear a tie, we don't watch sports or even have TV, we know nothing about wine, we haven't traveled much, and we don't care about any of these things. We had a pretty nice conversation with one woman who'd grown up around here and seemed to understand that a lot of the residents in this area are completely intolerable, we liked her.

Sunday night we were psyched to be going into the city to have dinner with George's cousin, Iran, but didn't get to go because the Rabbit developed a fuel leak. George spent the whole day trying to fix it and when he thought he'd got it the car wouldn't start at all (instead of starting and sputtering.) We're both becoming more and more frustrated with this car, but probably will never part with it.

We finally found a place in the apartment for some bike hooks and got the bikes up off the floor! It feels a little less like we're living in a garage. George built a fancy new shelf to go under with window by the table, which replaces a skinny, ill-attached shelf the cats would sit on. Today I'm hoping we can agree on a color for the new shelf and for the underside of the loft, because while I can't put my finger on it I'm convinced that painting the right thing the right color in this place will magically transform it into a more comfortable, homey living space. Or I'm crazy and fickle about interior paint colors.

What we're really excited for is the middle of November when Jesse comes to visit! He'll be here for a whole two weeks around Thanksgiving, which we'll be celebrating at the 2nd Annual Fat Angel T-Day Feast. Maybe we'll get to take an exciting trip to some other part of this God forsaken state, or at the very least have a few days where we can all hang out with anyone having to go to work.

Today's fascinating lunch: mac & cheese with tuna fish. Tonight's fascinating dinner: sweet potatoes and chicken.

the rabbit's got one boot

As we speak George is (hopefully) an hour or so away from having the Rabbit complete and running for real. Now it's got new axles/CV joints, one new boot, new tie rods, new oversize battery, and a new lease on life. If all goes well and according to plan we're hoping to celebrate by going to one of our new favorite restaurants, Sorella Cafe.

One of the projects George is working on is kind of the prime example of the ridiculous ways people spend money when they have too much of it: a mobile name tag holder for a church which George's vague estimate prices out to be $10,000 in the end. I haven't seen the design, so I can't say whether or not it's going to be really cool. It's just so silly that someone would hire a designer to solve their pesky name-tag-jumble problem. Peg board? Everyone responsible for their own tag? Card catalog style?

After my boss came back, my co-worker and her husband went to Japan for two weeks and upon coming home she promptly came down with walking pneumonia. Which means George and I haven't been having any grand adventures aside from the usual go-to-work-come-home-sit-around. With Liz back in town we've been trying to at least get over to Berkeley. Luckily we've got her hooked on watching the show Alias with us so we can lure her over at least once a week. For Liz's birthday/Halloween we're going to Chez Panisse with her, her dad and step mom. We're hoping after dinner we'll still have time to get out and do something for Halloween; Liz is going to be Rainbow Brite, I'm planning on being the Morton Salt girl, and George is wavering between Speed Racer, Wolverine, or a number 2 pencil.

Last night for dinner we had Chickpea Broccoli Casserole from the cookbook Vegan with a Vengeance. Neither of us is vegan but it's nice to have a a group of recipes that rely more on vegetables than meat and butter, like this one for example. If you're going to make it you'll need...

3 16-oz. cand chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced
3 large carrots, grated (2 cups)
1 head broccoli, cut into small florets (4 cups)
2 Tbsp. thinly sliced chives
1/2 C. bread crumbs
3 T. olive oil
1 C. vegetable broth
1 tsp. salt

Then you'll want to...

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl mash the chickpeas well, it takes about two minutes with a potato masher (or pastry blender in my case) and they're good and mashed when they're done. Add the vegetables and mix well. Add the bread crumbs and mix. Then the oil and mix. Add the broth and salt, then mix. Dump it all into a glass or ceramic 9"x13" pan pressing the mixture in firmly. Cover with aluminum foil, bake 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes more. Ta da!

My boss finally took a vacation and went to Italy for a week for a friend's wedding. Consequently, I'm working eleven days in a row--which started last Thursday.

Last week George was supposed to get the last of the parts he needed to finish the Rabbit, we even drove up to Petaluma to the the package because UPS wouldn't leave it without a signature. The next day he discovered that they'd sent him the wrong part!

It's a long week.

bulleted

The bike

For all practical purposes, my bike is complete!






One of her flashiest features are the tires: SpeedBlends made specially for Rivendell. When they're rolling the colors merge and have a nice teal-to-pink progression.




A couple other things I really enjoy are the microfiber bar tape, the waxed thread securing it, and the sleek, attractive stem. (Notice the u-lock attached to the bike...) The next step for it will be a shorter stem so I'm not reaching as far and a little saddle bag so I don't have to carry around a bag on my back.


Trips and visitors

My trip to Asheville was great, I got to spend time with Hope which is something I really could stand to do more of. We spent most of our time tearing paneling out of the littlest room in the house and painting painting painting. When I left we'd finished the walls & trim in the bedroom and almost all of the studio and the first coat in the kitchen. The time we spent away from the fumes was filled with trips to Lowe's, going out for food, touring around the city, and a really sucessful trip to and antique mall where we walked out with a chrome breadbox, a set of rectangular chrome kitchen canisters, a little kitchen table (mostly for the heavy-duty base, not the paint-splattered institution-like top), and two awesome chairs.

Dyani and Conor have arrived in California, Conor will be starting classes at U.C. Davis anytime now. They came down for the weekend where Dyani got a new bike: a new Volpe! She'd been looking for a nice touring bike and I, naturally, couldn't shut up about how amazing the Volpe is and pointed her to a bike shop that had one the last time George and I were there. After test riding and discovering it was on sale and loving it, she decided to get it. Hooray!

Liz is coming back tonight! We like Liz, she makes us feel like we have friends and know how to have fun.


The Rabbit

George has been plugging away at Rabbit repairs. I'm not too sure of the specifics, but I know that lately the work has been unfortunately frustrating. Parts not fitting and having to be reordered, bolts in ridiculous, hard-to-get-to places. Maybe he'll make his own post someday about it and it'll be more in-depth and interesting than mine. (hint hint)

funday

today george got a big ol' box full of rabbit parts! the new head gasket, brake pads, door gaskets, new head bolts, a new door latch, thermostat, and ... a water pump! and a green o-ring.

boy got to chase ants around the window sill.

girl got to be chased into the house by another mean dog. last night a dog bolted from the sidewalk into the driveway barking and snapping his evil jaw at her. she managed to scramble away and under the house. this morning she was sitting on the threshold of the door and the dog almost busted into the house. i'm not impressed with these san anselmo pooches.

and tonight i got to go to the doctor for a mysteriously swollen achey weird knee problem. it kind of went like my dentist visit, except this time the doctor was just late to work, apparently. after waiting in the exam room for an hour, he came in, moved my knee around a little, and determined that i probably have a little tear or some other damage in the joint, but it doesn't appear to be severe enough to warrant x-rays. however, if by next monday it's still all "jacked up," as my co-worker emily would say, then i get to go back in and possibly get some x-rays and then depending on what they find the great possiblity: surgery. i'm hoping it'll just get better.

tomorrow we may drive up to jenner and beyond and see what's whats up north or we may stay home and i'll sit on the couch. regardless we're heading to hilda's coffee shop for breakfast.

rabbit surgery

well. i've officially gone too far to turn back. i pulled the poor little bunny's heart out today. last weekend i popped its head off to change the gasket, and started seeing leaks all over the place. apparently a lot of the old seals don't stand up to bio-diesel. turns 'em to mush. i think i've found somebody who will rebuild it. i don't really want to get inside that thing. too many little bits.

should run like new once it's all back together...

gotta go. ice coffee time.

look. i'm famous!