I caught Sperry Rail detector car #146 in the yard on the Newburyport commuter rail line last evening. Unfortunately I couldn’t get any closer. You can see a good movie of SRS146 in action at the Wedgemere station here.
June 24 – As Mrs. Mack505 puts it, the furrmily. Clockwise from the orange one: Hal, Noah, Chai, Sebby, and Clara.
June 25 – the best looking thing at the New England Fire Chiefs’ Show was not for sale. This is Freeport, ME’s 1939 ALF.
June 27 – Electrotherapy at Seashore Trolley Museum. This is x-SEPTA PCC #2709.
I sit enjoying the warm solstice evening, reading a good book in the garage. The city has had no love for us today.
A reported diabetic who only wanted a cup of coffee. A morbidly obese patient who called 911 looking for a wheelchair van.
A reported overdose in a fast food bathroom. I haven’t done a good OD in a bathroom in ages. Still haven’t.
And a truck swap. I hate swapping trucks. It never feels right for the rest of the shift.
There are forces in motion in my life; things begun long ago and now largely beyond my control. I don’t yet know where they will lead me or how I feel about them, but their effect is tectonic. Large shifts will occur.
A truck swap. An old friend from my past has returned. Medic 6 looms over my right shoulder, a ghost of good times past. We started our careers together or near enough as to make no difference; me the new paramedic and her the new transfer truck. Now she sits here reassuringly, the faithful steed peeking out of its stall.
My days in this city and indeed this job may be numbered, but tonight I get to spend them with an old friend.
or “The Joys of Classic Car Ownership, Part 2”
No, I haven’t added a Gremlin to my collection. It seems one moved into the Beetle, though.
As anticipated, yesterday’s commute home was interesting. It culminated in a complete failure of the turn signals, warning lights, and gas gauge. When I got home, it was time to dig out the Compleat Idiot’s Guide.
After much investigation, I learned something interesting. The VW uses ‘Euopean’ style fuses. Unlike a traditional automotive fuse, these feature an exposed copper conductor stretched over a plastic frame. This allows a possible intermittent failure mode, where the fuse can blow but not fail completely. Hence, the problem would resolve after a few good bumps.
One $0.20 fuse. Grrrr.
So I upgraded to WordPress 3.0 this morning, and now all my new posts are titled ‘Auto Draft.’ Arrrrggh!
I thought it might be due to the older version of the theme that I was running, so I upgraded it. Unfortunately I accidentally deleted all my header images in the process. *sigh*
Please bear with me.
Classic cars. A classic is something beyond old. It has to have some sort of appeal to distinguish it from being just another old heap. I’d like to think I own a classic.
I own what I’d like to believe is the World’s Only Dual Carb, Satellite-Navigated, iPod-Equipped 1974 VW Type 1 Beetle. Definitely the only red one. Or maybe the only red one with factory chrome wheels. I’m 100% sure it’s the only red Dual Carb, Satellite-Navigated, iPod-Equipped 1974 VW Type 1 Beetle with factory chrome wheels which was named Lucy by a four-year-old girl.
Anyway, it’s a toy; a summer car. It’s in very good shape, but not show quality. That’s OK, as I want to be able to drive it to work and do errands. It’s a scream to drive; a 70 MPH go-cart. In typical VW fashion the climate control involves speed. To cool it in the summer, you open the windows and drive faster. To warm it in the winter, you close the windows and drive faster.
As it’s June, I’ve been drivng Lucy a lot lately. Last week I brought her to work, forgetting that I had to go to a class in the morning. It rained, and half way to class the windshield wipers gave up. It made for a long ride home.
Yesterday I took Lucy on some errands without any problems. Until I got home, when the trunk release decided to fail. All of my shopping was in there, of course. After 20 minutes and much cursing, the trunk finally opened.
This morning, we were off to work again. Almost immediately the Generator, Oil, and Brake warning lights began flickering. In unison. Odd.
As an aside, the Generator light in an air-cooled VW should never be ignored. In most cars, if the alternator or generator fails, you can drive for a decent distance using just the electrons in the battery. In fact, you should not stop the engine as it may not restart. However in the VW, the generator also drives the cooling fan. A generator light can mean the cooling fan is also not working, so you must stop immediately and check the belt. If you don’t, you could find out that the engine is overheating when it melts. That would be very bad.
So a quick check determined it was not the generator/fan belt, as I suspected. That wouldn’t cause the lights to flicker together. Onward and forward.
Closer to the Eastern Front, the lights came on again. This time I noticed that the turn signals were no longer working either. This sent me into the trunk (in the front, remember) looking for obvious electrical shorts. None, of course. I drove through a construction site in Witch City, and voila! the probem resolved itself.
There is a fine line between ‘classic’ and ‘heap,’ and it takes a committed owner to stay on the right side of it. These little quirks just add to the charm. I’m looking forward to the commute home.
June 12 – It rained on our parade. Actually it rained just after our parade, but it still dampened the festivities.
June 13 – Beth kicks back in the moonbounce after her party. We entertained most of her Kindergarten class in celebration of the end of the year.
June 14 – Operation Lifesaver pushes the idea that any track could have a train at any time. That was never more true than Monday in Witch City. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a train in this spot before. It’s also the first I’ve seen of the new Pan Am paintjob.
June 15 – This is Eliott. He was born about 4 weeks ago in Dad’s barn. We caught him yesterday and will tame him and find him a safe home through MRFRS. His siblings should be joining him soon. He’s a real sweetheart!
