Post-Summer 2025

 SUMMERTIME - 2025

Anna Ruby Falls, Georgia

Most of the festivities, activities, and other 'ties are just about wrapped up for the summer.

All camps are done, vacations taken, and fun has been had. 

I had the opportunity to join my wife at summer camp in Orlando. We usually are camp deans for our own separate camps, but I was able to join her at her camp. as a "Dorm Dad/Counselor of counselors".

The Passat and the Tacoma are putting in work... still thinking about the next vehicle. 

Put a little over 1600 miles on the Tacoma in 5 days, with shuffling kids around and the trip north all together. It averaged 20.03 MPG over all, which is right in line with the EPA rating. I guess what they say is true, "The Tacoma V6... Power of a 4 cylinder, fuel economy of a V8."

We had a rare opportunity this past week where one child was in a summer camp outside of Tampa, the other in a camp in North Carolina, and the wife and I headed to parts unknown, childless. "Unknown" wound up being Helen, Georgia, and Sparta North Carolina.

Helen was wonderful, weather was great, and the food was better. We used to visit Helen during our JaxDubs/Volkswagen days, as Helen held a yearly VW/Audi/Porsche meet that took over the town, called SoWo (Southern Worthersee). Sadly, losers will be losers, and SoWo overstayed its welcome and was ended after 2015. The wife and I did plenty of sight seeing, hiked to a near by water fall, and ziplined. 

After that we drove "back home" to Sparta, North Carolina. It was bittersweet this year, as we spent less that 24 hours there. We meet my dad, as he was headed there himself, and just enjoyed the mountain air and green grass. Normally we dedicate most, if not all, of our 10 day trip to Sparta. All is good as time was still well spent. I'm going to try and make a few more short trips before the end of the year.

We split the drive home up, and I used some more rewards points to get a "free" night at a Holiday Inn located in Florence, SC. For the record... I cannot stand South Carolina. I have yet to find a redeeming quality about it. The roads are Grade "A" garbage, and I just don't like it, the stay at that Holiday Inn didn't help either.

We've done well over the summer, and looking back this has been a good one. Very busy, but very productive as well.

See you on the next post...

The 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport

Mitsu-byebye

 

 

After the wreck of the Rabbit, I was given an allowance towards a rental car. I was given the choice between a Toyota Camry or this, a 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. Being as how I do not think I have every driven a Mitsubishi in my life (strike that, an ex-girlfriend did have a sweet 5 speed 2 door Mirage that was lowered and had a super loud exhaust), I decided to take the new one for a ride.

Initial Impressions.

The 2018 Outlander Sport, at face value is a fairly nice ride. It is a compact crossover powered by Mitsubishis' 4B11 2.0 attached to a CVT transmission. The 4B11 makes 155HP and 146 lb ft of torque. Not that much. This particular model had "4WD", but I never used it.

Exterior

I'm not a huge fan of colors on cars. White, Silver/Grey, and Black are what I prefer (in that order). However, the blue of this Outlander really grew on me. So much so, that I started looking for blue cars in my search for a new vehicle. The exterior looked every bit the part of "Sporty". It was edgy and aggressive so you wouldn't think it was just another dull cross over, at least at first glance. It had LED running lights, as well as fogs lights and rear amber turn signals (a favorite of mine). Over all, the outside of the Outlander impressed me, but it kind of felt like a consolation prize over all, a shiny wrapper on something absolutely average.

Interior

The interior, like the exterior, was decent. One could say adequate. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about as well. Everything was laid out where you would expect it would be, and all you HVAC and Radio controls where in hands reach. Steering wheel controls covered pretty much everything you would need to touch, so you generally did not have to take your eyes off the road.

Room was good. Both car seats fit, without compromising driver or front passenger room. Still not as much room as our 2015 VW Passat, which has an uncomfortably large amount of rear leg room (seriously, 3 years later and it still blows my mind how much there is). The seats were supportive and nicely bolstered, and I liked the red stitching. The cargo area was large enough for a weeks worth of groceries, or a trip to the pool bringing all your floaties and toys.

Drivability

For what I take the Outlander Sport to be, it is perfect. a simple commuter car. The 2.0 is nothing special, but it is adequate. You put your foot on the gas pedal, and it goes. Not overly slow or overly fast, but at a "I'll get you there but I'm not in a hurry." pace. One thing the car has that took some getting use to was the CVT transmission. For those that do not know, a CVT is a type of automatic transmission that does not shift. It is a Continuously Variable Transmission aka single speed transmission. From a "Racecar guy" standpoint it is horrible, but for a simple commuter vehicle I think its great, even more so than the standard automatic transmission. There is no shifting, so there is no jerks or bumps or surging. You put your foot on the gas, and it ramps up to 5-6k RPM and stays there until you level off. It's very strange at first, but I adapted quickly.

Again, there was a "4WD" system offered, but I never used it. It offered two 4WD modes. A full time, and a locked center differential mode. The set up appeared to be a Haldex type set up, so I would imagine it to be more street/light rain and snow oriented. More "AWD" than "4WD"

Summary

That's pretty much it for the review. The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is a perfect rental car. Take that how you will. Would I personally buy one? Probably not, but I would consider it with the manual 5 speed. While driving the Mitsubishi, I could see why they are failing while simultaneously seeing how they are trying to fix them selves.

I have an affinity for Mitsubishi, as well as most Japanese auto makers, that spawns from their glory years in the early 90's. They have seem to have lost their way for the most part, and have all become dull point A to B cars, no pizazz. There is the saying, "A rose by any other name, is still a rose.", and with that mentality I think you could also say, "A turd by any other name, is still a turd."

What I mean is, you can add all the Bluetooth, Infotainment, and flashy garbage you want, but at the end of the day, if it's all wrapped around a hunk of junk, I don't want it. Maybe that's the problem, maybe I am one of a dying breed. One who views cars as more than an appliance. I don't need to drive around in my cell phone. I need a reliable, peppy, fun to drive car. One that lets me know what the road is saying. So many cars today are built and sold on the premise that they will isolate you from the outside world. I don't want that. I want to hear the engine. The real one, note fake engine noise pumped through a speaker. I want to feel the road and hear the tires. I want to shift my own gears, and be allowed to make mistakes without electronic nannies cutting in.

I think that is the biggest down fall of many auto makers right now, that they are building cookie cutter vehicles, that are no longer viewed as "part of the family". There are some that still have that passion for a fun, connected vehicle, but they are slowly disappearing. On the flip side of that coin, I think the amount of people who want that type of vehicle are disappearing as well.

OK, I went a little off topic.

Sorry.


That's it for now... more latter. :)

BILBO TOOLBAGINS

Finally, he's getting to that tool bag post he's talked about...

Here it is. I finally decided to pull out my tool bags and take some pictures.
I have many tools, most located in my tool chest/drawers. However, I keep some of my tools in tool bags, ready to grab and go when and if the call is made. This all started with my time with Brethren Disaster Ministries, and has spiraled out of control.

The bags. I keep the Tool Box in my car, as it is my on the go auto repair box.

It all started with my tool belt, so we will start there.

I headed down to Lorida with just tool belt containing a hammer, and a cast paw. I picked up some tools down there, and added a pouch when I came back.

The belt will be replaced eventually, but it really suits me now.

The Hammer and Claw: Eastwing 16oz and Cast Paw

A general purpose hammer with a smooth face. I swung this hammer almost nonstop for 5 days from sun up to sun down. Never really fatigued me. The cats (cast) paw is invaluable for ripping nails out.

Tool Belt Accessories: Knife, Punch, Screw, and Tape

I added these when I picked up the pouch. It contains a basic screw driver with changeable bits, your standard Stanely 99e knife with extra blades (including roofing blades), finishing punches, and a tape measure I was given when I was down there.

Multipurpose Pliers: Linemans 369

Just a multipurpose pair of Lineman's pliers. I use them to pull nails and staples, snip wire and cords, and hold nails to hammer when I hit my thumb.

The Tool Bag: Cave of Wonders

This is where it starts to spiral out of control. I started buying these things as needed, for around the house, but always kept in mind the need for travel should I need too.

This guy is packed

The Power Tools: Milwaukee M12 Sawzall, Hammer Drill, Impact Driver, and Flashlight

Started with just the Impact driver and went on from there. I'm really impressed with the M12 line. the smaller sized tools are great for travel, and the power is just as good as the bigger M18's we use at work. The only reason I can see using the larger M18 would be for a portable 1/2 inch drive impact gun. The impact driver is a beast, and I have used it a ton.

Milwaukee Accessories

Just bits and pieces for the drill and driver. Those multi-step bits are the bomb. The drill bits dont do so well in the impact driver. Once the impact part kicks in, they chatter to much and stop drilling.

The Other Guys: Estwing 28 oz waffle, Ball Peen, and Wonder Bar, as well as a Nail Pouch, Files, and Air Shim.

The 28 ounce hammer has yet to be used, but was bought with the intention of framing and driving larger nails. The Ball Peen is for smaller trim work, as well as shaping and flattening tin when making roof patches. The wonder bar is for making those old shingles fly. Also used for shimming and adjusting. I picked up the nail pouch down in Lorida, and it was worn in conjunction with the basic tool belt.

The bar file is for reshaping the cast paw and hammer claws, as well as knocking down nail heads and other pokey bits of metal. The Rat Tail file has yet to find a purpose, but enlarging holes is probably what will happen. The Air Shim is awesome. Its a little air bladder that you can use to shim, adjust, and lift things. Comes in real handy when putting shelves on Ikea furniture.

Other Things: Wiss Aviation Shears and Torpedo Level

The first thing I bought when I got back from Lorida was the shears. We were installing metal roofing, and they would have really come in handy. I used some down there to make brackets out of scrap metal to rehang gutters as well as cut the metal roof pieces. The Torpedo level is just a level. I bought one with a magnet and pipe grove for setting fence posts. It also comes in handy with Ikea furniture.

Not pictured is my Ryobi laser level cube. I forgot to take a pic, but it's just a laser level. I use it for marking studs. Also not pictured is my Studdy Buddy. Its a hand held magnet that you use to locate studs in the wall.

Tape Measures

The Fat Max is and awesome tape measure, and the other is my cheater tape. It has the fractions written out on it.

THE SAW BAG: It's a bag with a circular saw in it.

Milwaukee M12 Circular Saw

All this bag has in it is the saw. It's a smaller saw, using a 5 3/8 inch blade, but it will cut a 2x4 in one pass. Very torquey, and the battery life is pretty decent with one of the larger M12 batteries.

The Plumbing Bag

There isn't too much in here. I am just starting to build it. I also use some of my work tools if I am around the house.

Slim Pickings: Just a pliers and a wrench

As of right now, this is it. A 14" Pipe Wrench and a set of Channel Locks. Again, when I am around the house, I use some of my work tools. I'll be ordering some offsets and speed wrenches here soon, as well as some other plumbing related things.

Well, there you have it. My tool bags. I hope to put them all in use soon, as the trip with BDM to Lorida was truly an amazing time. I would do it again in a heart beat.

I am going to make my tool box a separate post as it's not home related, more auto. It' will come soon enough.


Ok, enough is enough. This was a large post, and I am tired of typing.

Captain's Log: The Fourth

Three Day Weekend

Hardly did 9anything Saturday, used it as a freebie. Watched the Daytona 500 Sunday (I have a casual relationship with NASCAR), and finished off the day with some Winter Olympics. I must say that with the new NASCAR season, and the Winter Olympics, this is the most "Fan-ing" I've done in awhile. I'm looking at you, Green Bay (maybe next season).

The race was fun, and I actually watched the whole thing. Trying to pick a driver to like right now. Before the race, I had narrowed it down to either Austin Dillon (because of his seaming embodiment of the "3" car and his willingness to "wear the black hat") or Bubba Wallace Jr (Because I like Petty, and I think he see's something in Wallace). I'm still on the fence, as Dillon won the race, and I don't wan't to jump on the band wagon yet.

As far as the Winter Olympics, I have always enjoyed it more than the summer games. Almost every winter game involves speed of some kind. My favorites are the Super G and Alpine skiing, Skeleton and Bobsleigh, as well as Ski Jumping. They just feel faster than the summer games.

ANYWAYS, on to Monday (Presidents Day)

Spent most the day working on the the Rabbit, on and off. Swapped out the intake manifold for a newer revised version. The newer manifold has shorter runner, and will in theory give me more top end. Even more so once I get the Rabbit tuned.

The Old Intake - Longer Runners

The "New" Intake - Shorter Runners

Spent some time cleaning the manifold, as well as the ports on the block. Not too much build up after 122k miles. Plenty of Chemtool and rags took care of the mess.

Installed new O rings on my cleaned injectors.

Crud. This was probably the worst of the five

Didn't get too into it. Just a finger and a rag.

The only snags I ran into were reaching the two bolts on the manifold hidden on the bottom and the rubber spacers between the manifold and it's front bracket.

The first issue didn't take me long to figure out, but it did take me a while to implement my strategy. There are four bolts on the bottom part of the flange that attaches the manifold to the cylinder head. Two of them are on the outside and easy to get to. The other two are hidden, and you have to use an extension to reach through these two holes in the manifold to get to them. The holes aren't big enough for a 3/8th drive socket, but the socket bit (a 6mm allen head) does not come in 1/4 drive.

ADAPTATION.

I took my suuuuper long 1/4 inch extension, a 7mm socket and the 6mm allen bit from a 1/2 inch drive and combined them into one super tool.

I had to sacrifice the 1/2 inch socket, but it will not be forgotten.

"It cant be tight if it's liquid"

Good night, sweet prince

After that, the 6mm bit didn't fit in a 6mm socket, so I had to use a 7mm. The fit was too lose, so I had to wedge something down in between the allen head and the socket. A piece of paper clip did the trick. My tool was made, and off came the manifold.

Long John Silver

After the above mentioned cleaning took place, I started back on reassembling. "New" injectors in, and double checking on my hose and wire connections.

Old versus "New"

This brought me to my next hiccup. These stupid rubber mount things. I dont recall the engine in the junk yard having them, but my car did. The mounts were captured on my manifold, and I couldn't swap them over to the new one.

Stupid

I ended up freeing them from the old intake by cutting the intake up, and them melting and crushing the ABS plastic in a vice. Then I couldn't get the brass insert off. I said forget it and went to Home Depot to make myself a mount.

After installing the manifold and loosely bolting it back in, it looked as if I didn't need them after all (nor would they have fit.) I ended up sticking a few rubber washer in between the mount and manifold for good measure, and called it a day. The Rabbit fired up without hesitation, and a little while later we went for a test drive.

Finished!

Impressions:

I've pretty much lost all my bottom end, or at least it feels that way. I knew that I would probably experience a little drop in low end torque, but the drop was noticeable. I guess 4 inch shorter runner would do that.

I do feel, or think I feel, a harder pull around 4000 to 5000 RPMs, but unfortunately, I currently top out at 5700, so I'm not sure if this surge continues. Hopefully the tune will sort this part out.

On the highway, It looks to be getting slightly (+ 2-4) MPGs. This could just be hopeful thinking (or weather), but next trip to Orlando will be the judge.

Well, that about wraps it up for this one. 

I'm sure there will be more work related stuff coming up this week, and I'll try to get in a non car related personal post here soon.

Ok. Thats it.

Mud Holes, Forever

The week seemed to be dry and all the clothes were too clean.

But we got a chance to get a little dirty before the week was through. 

A few leaks popped up this week, some where passed off to other crews, but we fixed a few ourselves. Friday was the muddy one.

A reuse leak came in a few days before, but it was small so we let it go for a couple days.  Since it was reuse water, we shut (we thought) the main off so it could dry up (it didnt).

We headed out Friday morning to get it fixed. I hooked up to a trailer and we brought out our BobCat and a mud pump.

No matter where you go, make sure your hair is fabulous.

A few scoops taken out for exploratory reasons.

The main ended up not being off all the way, and the somebody turned the main back on with someone else in the hole. Main was shut off all the way, then the repair began. Ended up being a slipped fitting coming off the main tap saddle.

Mud hog pumping down the hole

Squeeeeezing the bucket between the main and other utilities.

I thought the main was off!?

After we got down to the break, I headed back to the yard with a trailer full of mud. That proved to be a task. All that muck settled driving back to the yard, and suction cupped itself to the trailer floor. I had to hand shovel it all out.

Brownies?

The mud did not move. At all. I even shook the tar out of the trailer and nearly broke the hitch.

After getting more dirty emptying the trailer than I did working, I loaded up some fresh dry dirt to back fill the hole, and headed back. Fuel first.

All the lights

Once back, both reuse services were built back in poly. Meter boxes were set, and we began to backfill. All in all the repair went the way it should.

Tee'd straight off the main.

Not much leak action this week, but I'm sure there will be more next week. I think we have a repair scheduled to remove a meter from a driveway, so that should be fun.

See you later!