So today I was at the local department store and I decided to buy a Shop Vac to use to clean up the work we've been doing in the bedroom. I figured it would also come in handy when I go to clean out the garage this spring.
I found a good one on sale...6 gallons, 3 horsepower, $44. I snagged one of the last two and went to the register. I paid and got on my way home.
Now, I don't really know what I was thinking. I don't know if I have seriously never noticed this, or if I just forgot about it. But as I was taking it out of my car, I looked under a shelf that is in the garage and what do you know...there is a 6 gallon 3 horsepower Shop Vac sitting there. D'OH!!!! I felt like an idiot.
I told Cathy I had to take the one back, and she told me that she knew that there was a Shop Vac there, and that if I'd have waited for her to go to the store I wouldn't have wasted the time buying it!!! Oh well, at least I've got one to use now!!!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
While Waiting for Parts...
So while I STILL wait for parts (none of them came today either) I decided to do some minor work to the GS.
I decided that I was going to put some different rear turn signals on the bike the other day and I ordered a set on Ebay. They will probably get here before any of the other parts that I have ordered. The reason I had decided to do this was because the signals that were on there were hooked to those Vetter brackets that aren't actually designed for the bike. So I had made up my mind to remove those brackets, and with them of course the signals had to go.
So I got around to actually removing the brackets from the bike. I think the bike looks better without them on there, but it does look a bit bare without any kind of luggage or anything else on the back. However, the brackets not being there does really clean up the look of the bike.
The brackets were a bit rusty and didn't really fit on there very well. The bike, in my opinion, looks like it's in better condition simply by having those brackets taken off.
Hopefully the seat cover will get here soon. When it does I'll get a picture of the bike with the new cover and the brackets removed. I also am in the process of trying to find a good set of saddlebags to put on the back of the bike to complete the touring look.
Lastly, I have decided that I won't be redoing as much on the Vetter fairing as I had originally planned. Instead of redoing the chrome, I'm probably going to just sand the messed up "chrome" strips down and paint them when I paint the fairing. I've got some ideas for the fairing, but it's mainly going to be black. I might do some red trim, though, but I'll keep that to myself until I do it.
I decided that I was going to put some different rear turn signals on the bike the other day and I ordered a set on Ebay. They will probably get here before any of the other parts that I have ordered. The reason I had decided to do this was because the signals that were on there were hooked to those Vetter brackets that aren't actually designed for the bike. So I had made up my mind to remove those brackets, and with them of course the signals had to go.
So I got around to actually removing the brackets from the bike. I think the bike looks better without them on there, but it does look a bit bare without any kind of luggage or anything else on the back. However, the brackets not being there does really clean up the look of the bike.
The brackets were a bit rusty and didn't really fit on there very well. The bike, in my opinion, looks like it's in better condition simply by having those brackets taken off.
Hopefully the seat cover will get here soon. When it does I'll get a picture of the bike with the new cover and the brackets removed. I also am in the process of trying to find a good set of saddlebags to put on the back of the bike to complete the touring look.
Lastly, I have decided that I won't be redoing as much on the Vetter fairing as I had originally planned. Instead of redoing the chrome, I'm probably going to just sand the messed up "chrome" strips down and paint them when I paint the fairing. I've got some ideas for the fairing, but it's mainly going to be black. I might do some red trim, though, but I'll keep that to myself until I do it.
New Work Schedule
So it's getting close to shift bid time at work. I'm high enough in seniority to get just about any days off that I want, but Cathy is right in the middle of the pack, so we usually end up seeing what she's going to get then I just take those same days off.
This time might be different, however. Since the start of this job, there have always been two shifts...4am to 1pm and 12pm to 9pm. Those two shifts have changed very little since we started. Five days a week, one of those two shifts.
However, it's looking like they are going to be offering four 10 hour days at work this time around. The shifts will go from 4:30am to 3pm with a 30 minute lunch break, and from 9am to 7:30pm with a 30 minute lunch break. The reason for the change is because the late work has gone away for an undetermined amount of time, and most people want to work only four days.
The catch is, the days off will be split up. You will work two days, have one off, work two days, have two off every week. I actually like this BETTER for a setup of four 10 hour days. To me, this will be like everyday being either a Thursday or a Friday. You will never have to work more than 2 days in a row.
I think it's going to be a good thing, but getting used to the change might take some time.
This time might be different, however. Since the start of this job, there have always been two shifts...4am to 1pm and 12pm to 9pm. Those two shifts have changed very little since we started. Five days a week, one of those two shifts.
However, it's looking like they are going to be offering four 10 hour days at work this time around. The shifts will go from 4:30am to 3pm with a 30 minute lunch break, and from 9am to 7:30pm with a 30 minute lunch break. The reason for the change is because the late work has gone away for an undetermined amount of time, and most people want to work only four days.
The catch is, the days off will be split up. You will work two days, have one off, work two days, have two off every week. I actually like this BETTER for a setup of four 10 hour days. To me, this will be like everyday being either a Thursday or a Friday. You will never have to work more than 2 days in a row.
I think it's going to be a good thing, but getting used to the change might take some time.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Light at the End of the Tunnel...
So today I put my mind to it and started really working on the bedroom. I got a lot accomplished.
First off, all of the trim on the walls that were not wallpapered is completely done. The windows, the baseboards, the doors, everything. I have a few very small spots to touch up, of course, but that's going to take about 10 minutes to do, and I figure I'll wait to do the touch up until I am completely done painting.
But the biggest thing is that I started working on the wallpaper on the fourth wall. We had purchased some stuff to clean the wallpaper off the wall a while ago, but I wasn't sure how well it would work so I have, quite honestly, been putting this part off because I thought it was going to be a ton of work. Well, the stuff we got was called DIF. It's a gel that you roll onto the wall and then it strips the glue from behind the paper. I gave it a go in just a small spot, and it worked amazingly. This led me to start working on a larger spot. Before you know it, that entire wall is completely clean of wallpaper.
Now that fourth wall is ready for paint. I will probably paint it in a few days. I want ALL of this DIF stuff to make sure it's dried off of the wall. I don't think it would do anything to the paint, but you never know. So I am going to give it a few days. In the meantime I am going to do the trim on the window on that wall and the baseboard on it.
Then, after that is all dried and done, the wall will be finished. After the wall is finished, the ceiling will be finished. But the bottom line is, I think I'm literally only about two hours worth of actual work away from being done with the room and getting everything moved into it.
It's been a long time, but it seems to me that the room is going to look pretty nice when it's done!!
First off, all of the trim on the walls that were not wallpapered is completely done. The windows, the baseboards, the doors, everything. I have a few very small spots to touch up, of course, but that's going to take about 10 minutes to do, and I figure I'll wait to do the touch up until I am completely done painting.
But the biggest thing is that I started working on the wallpaper on the fourth wall. We had purchased some stuff to clean the wallpaper off the wall a while ago, but I wasn't sure how well it would work so I have, quite honestly, been putting this part off because I thought it was going to be a ton of work. Well, the stuff we got was called DIF. It's a gel that you roll onto the wall and then it strips the glue from behind the paper. I gave it a go in just a small spot, and it worked amazingly. This led me to start working on a larger spot. Before you know it, that entire wall is completely clean of wallpaper.
Now that fourth wall is ready for paint. I will probably paint it in a few days. I want ALL of this DIF stuff to make sure it's dried off of the wall. I don't think it would do anything to the paint, but you never know. So I am going to give it a few days. In the meantime I am going to do the trim on the window on that wall and the baseboard on it.
Then, after that is all dried and done, the wall will be finished. After the wall is finished, the ceiling will be finished. But the bottom line is, I think I'm literally only about two hours worth of actual work away from being done with the room and getting everything moved into it.
It's been a long time, but it seems to me that the room is going to look pretty nice when it's done!!
Lots of Wii Stuff Today...
So Cathy and I got some stuff for the Wii today.
After getting a new cable box from Comcast a few weeks ago I was able to use the HDMI input on the TV to hook up the cable box, which opened up another component video input on the TV. So I bought us some component video cables for the Wii. These will allow it to display it's highest possible resolution, granted that's only 480p, but it's still better than just the standard definition that it displays right now.
Cathy also got a couple of games. She got "Guiness Book of Records," which as far as we can tell is a party game of some sort. She also got "Mario Tennis" which is a remake of an older Gamecube game but with some new controls specific to the Wii. I have always enjoyed the "Mario" sports games, and tennis was one of the ones that I liked the best, so I'm looking forward to playing around with it a little bit. Cathy also got "Mario Party 8" in the mail today from Amazon. She had been wanting that for quite a while.
To play all of these games, she also got us another nunchuck controller. We've had two Wii remotes for a long time now, but never actually got a second nunchuck to go with them.
Tomorrow we are planning on playing some of the new games. It should be fun.
After getting a new cable box from Comcast a few weeks ago I was able to use the HDMI input on the TV to hook up the cable box, which opened up another component video input on the TV. So I bought us some component video cables for the Wii. These will allow it to display it's highest possible resolution, granted that's only 480p, but it's still better than just the standard definition that it displays right now.
Cathy also got a couple of games. She got "Guiness Book of Records," which as far as we can tell is a party game of some sort. She also got "Mario Tennis" which is a remake of an older Gamecube game but with some new controls specific to the Wii. I have always enjoyed the "Mario" sports games, and tennis was one of the ones that I liked the best, so I'm looking forward to playing around with it a little bit. Cathy also got "Mario Party 8" in the mail today from Amazon. She had been wanting that for quite a while.
To play all of these games, she also got us another nunchuck controller. We've had two Wii remotes for a long time now, but never actually got a second nunchuck to go with them.
Tomorrow we are planning on playing some of the new games. It should be fun.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Getting a Bit Tired of Waiting for These Parts...
So it's been days, and I still haven't gotten any of the parts that I ordered.
Now, I know it's probably normal, but it's been literally over a week since I placed the order. I spent $10 for shipping on items that weighed, combined, less than one pound. That, to me at least, would seem to suggest that they should at the very least be using Priority Mail to get me these products.
I understand that the place I ordered them from is actually just a big motorcycle dealership...so they probably had to actually order the parts from Suzuki, then ship them to me after they got to the dealership. But either way, I think that for the amount of money I spent on shipping that they should've been there quicker than this.
I'm starting to get a bit peeved about it because it's starting to get nice enough outside to actually think about working on the bike. I was hoping to have ALL of the parts here to get everything done at once, so I don't want to start with only the parts that I have just so that I have to take the whole bike apart again just to put the last few parts in.
Thinking of Joining a Motorcycle Club...
...no, not a gang.
This is a club that has chapters all around Michigan. There aren't any meetings or anything like that, there is a yearly subscription of around $20.
The club is called Ride. What it is basically is a website that is set up with different challenges on it. Those challenges can be completed by a rider and when they are completed the rider can purchase nifty little patches to sew onto their jacket or their saddle bags or whatever.
Some of the challenges would be things like ride 1000 miles in 24 hours. Or ride from Hell, Michigan to Paradise, Michigan in one day. The patches are interesting and the challenges seem like they could be a lot of fun.
They give you the first years dues for free, so you can join for nothing.
I'm thinking that maybe I'll sign Cathy and myself up when I get the GS out on the road.
This is a club that has chapters all around Michigan. There aren't any meetings or anything like that, there is a yearly subscription of around $20.
The club is called Ride. What it is basically is a website that is set up with different challenges on it. Those challenges can be completed by a rider and when they are completed the rider can purchase nifty little patches to sew onto their jacket or their saddle bags or whatever.
Some of the challenges would be things like ride 1000 miles in 24 hours. Or ride from Hell, Michigan to Paradise, Michigan in one day. The patches are interesting and the challenges seem like they could be a lot of fun.
They give you the first years dues for free, so you can join for nothing.
I'm thinking that maybe I'll sign Cathy and myself up when I get the GS out on the road.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
47
That's how many days are currently left until the 2009 NFL Entry Draft.
I have a great interest in watching this year's draft. I have high, high, high, high, high, high hopes for the Lions as they SEEM to be making smart moves so far in this off season. They have signed some solid veterans and gotten a few key players signed. They even made a play to pull Jay Cutler out of Denver.
I still feel that they are going to be looking at a quarterback. Probably Matt Stafford. I'm still okay with that, but I'm even more interested to see what they do with the OTHER picks they have.
Seeing as the 0-16 debacle gets them the #1 pick, it also allows them to have the #1 pick in the second round, which realistically is just as good as a low first round pick. With that said, the Lions effectively have THREE first round draft picks this season, thanks in no small part to the Freak Show down in Dallas.
I'm really interested to see what they will do with the pick from Dallas. It's the #20 pick this year, and many people are saying that after his showing at the combine that Andre Smith should still be available at this spot. So should Rey Maualuga. Those are two players that if they are both available at #20 I might be hard pressed to choose between. I honestly think I would take Maualuga, because he's shown himself to be a hard worker, a smart guy, a leader, and a strong player. Smith, on the other hand seems like he might be problems off the field...but his presence on the field is hard to ignore.
Either way, I'm really looking forward to it!!
Big 10 Champs
So today the Spartans finished off a 5 game winning streak. A winning streak which put them 4 games ahead in the Big 10. They actually had the Championship wrapped up last Tuesday night, but in typical Tom Izzo fashion, the team wasn't allowed to celebrate until after they won against Purdue today at the Breslin Center in East Lansing.
This is the Spartans first Big 10 Championship since 2001, and their first outright Big 10 Championship since 1999. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since they won their last title outright. Especially when you consider the fact that they went all the way to the Final Four in 2000, 2001, and 2005.
They will probably end up with a really solid #2 seeding in the Tournament. I think that they are a #1 caliber team, but they had two pretty "bad" home losses this season that I think will keep them as a #2 for the Tournament. But that's okay, it's still a good spot to be in.
This team has a lot of talent, and I think when they play their best hoops they can easily hang with any team in the NCAA. With that said, it's going to be a CRAZY tournament this year!!!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Finished "Halo Wars."
So I had been playing the game on the Normal mode, but I got into the story and wanted to see how it ended so I switched it to Easy about half way through the game.
That allowed me to finish it tonight. Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the game. It gave some answers to things that we didn't know before (Spartan Team Omega is definitely still alive), the Forerunners made machines even larger than the Halos, and it MAY have answered the biggest question of all...what exactly was that thing floating in space at the end of "Halo 3" after you beat it on Legendary.
This game has rekindled my love of the "Halo Universe." It's a wonderfully fun game that plays very well and carries a story that is great if you're a fan of "Halo." It reminds me that I need to go and finish all the books...I've read two of them but need to read about 3 more. It reminds me that I need to play through the games again, just because they were that great. It reminds me that I need to get out there and make sure I pre-0rder "ODST" when they start taking pre-orders for it. It reminds me that I need to keep my eyes and ears open on the net, because Master Chief WILL be back...
Gordon Seems Qutie a Bit Better.
So Gordon is starting to act like his old self again after his ear infection and his medications. In other words, he's back to being a big goofy idiot.
He's playing with the cat again, running around like a maniac when he needs to go outside or wants his dinner, building his nests on the couch when he sleeps, and barking a lot more again.
This is all good. He's still having some issues staying in the crate all day and not going to the bathroom, but it seems to be getting better...a little I guess. Tonight when I got home it seems like he hadn't actually gone to the bathroom at all in the crate. Hopefully we can keep this up because I'm getting tired of cleaning it up all the time. I know it was probably the meds that he was on that were causing him to do it, and that it might take a little while for those meds to get out of his system, but I think he might be on his way back to being normal again...or at least, as normal as he can be.
He's playing with the cat again, running around like a maniac when he needs to go outside or wants his dinner, building his nests on the couch when he sleeps, and barking a lot more again.
This is all good. He's still having some issues staying in the crate all day and not going to the bathroom, but it seems to be getting better...a little I guess. Tonight when I got home it seems like he hadn't actually gone to the bathroom at all in the crate. Hopefully we can keep this up because I'm getting tired of cleaning it up all the time. I know it was probably the meds that he was on that were causing him to do it, and that it might take a little while for those meds to get out of his system, but I think he might be on his way back to being normal again...or at least, as normal as he can be.
Friday, March 6, 2009
The Colonel
So this was a clip from the Jimmy Kimmel show. It's a spoof of a new movie starring Mel Gibson. It's worth a watch. It made me laugh. Especially the part with Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger III...the pilot that successfully crash landed the airliner in the Hudson River a few weeks back.
Still Waiting on Parts
So I'm getting a bit impatient with the parts that I have ordered for the GS.
I had hoped that I would get to recover the seat this weekend, but the chances of that happening are pretty slim now, unless it somehow manages to show up tomorrow. I also still haven't gotten any of the parts that I have ordered from any of the larger companies like Bike Bandit and Flatout Motorcycles.
Oddly enough, the parts I have been getting from guys running their own business out of their basement are showing up a few days after I pay for them. It's a bit irritating considering I'm paying the bigger companies like $10 or $12 shipping and it's still taking days to get the parts.
On another note with the GS, I have FINALLY settled on a finish option for it. I'll be getting a can of Herculiner bed liner from JC Whitney and doing the bike up in black bed liner. I've done a bike before in bed liner and the end result was really unique. The best part is bed liner is REALLY durable, which is a good thing out on the highway with little rocks and stuff alwasy hitting your paint.
I had hoped that I would get to recover the seat this weekend, but the chances of that happening are pretty slim now, unless it somehow manages to show up tomorrow. I also still haven't gotten any of the parts that I have ordered from any of the larger companies like Bike Bandit and Flatout Motorcycles.
Oddly enough, the parts I have been getting from guys running their own business out of their basement are showing up a few days after I pay for them. It's a bit irritating considering I'm paying the bigger companies like $10 or $12 shipping and it's still taking days to get the parts.
On another note with the GS, I have FINALLY settled on a finish option for it. I'll be getting a can of Herculiner bed liner from JC Whitney and doing the bike up in black bed liner. I've done a bike before in bed liner and the end result was really unique. The best part is bed liner is REALLY durable, which is a good thing out on the highway with little rocks and stuff alwasy hitting your paint.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Hung One of The Roman Blinds.
So I got home tonight and decided to try my luck at hanging one of the Roman Blinds that I bought the other night.
It went up pretty easily. I actually mounted it slightly above the window frame, in hopes that it would hang as close to the actual window glass as possible. It looks nice in the room, and seems to be really nicely made.
With that said, I don't know if I like it. The rope to pull it up and down is, for some reason, placed BEHIND the actual blind itself. This makes it a bit of a chore to pull the thing up and let it down. You have to actually move the blind a little bit to do it. Completely different than any other types of blinds I've ever used. I actually thought for a while that I hadn't installed it correctly, but after reading the instructions about five times I decided it must just be the way that they are designed.
It's not that big of a deal, I guess. I can count the number of times that I've actually opened the blinds in the current bedroom in the last year on one hand. So basically, not being able to quickly open and close the blinds isn't a big deal to us. I guess I was just hoping that for $50 worth of blinds they would have been a bit more user friendly.
Maybe I do have them up wrong, but I don't really see any other way that they would be able to go up.
It went up pretty easily. I actually mounted it slightly above the window frame, in hopes that it would hang as close to the actual window glass as possible. It looks nice in the room, and seems to be really nicely made.
With that said, I don't know if I like it. The rope to pull it up and down is, for some reason, placed BEHIND the actual blind itself. This makes it a bit of a chore to pull the thing up and let it down. You have to actually move the blind a little bit to do it. Completely different than any other types of blinds I've ever used. I actually thought for a while that I hadn't installed it correctly, but after reading the instructions about five times I decided it must just be the way that they are designed.
It's not that big of a deal, I guess. I can count the number of times that I've actually opened the blinds in the current bedroom in the last year on one hand. So basically, not being able to quickly open and close the blinds isn't a big deal to us. I guess I was just hoping that for $50 worth of blinds they would have been a bit more user friendly.
Maybe I do have them up wrong, but I don't really see any other way that they would be able to go up.
My Helmet...
So this spring we are going to have to start looking for a helmet and a motorcycle jacket for Cathy. She has been wearing my extra stuff, but it doesn't really fit her very well and if she's going to spend any serious time on the bike with me we'll need to at the very least get her a helmet that fits her really well. The jacket she can probably keep wearing.
But while browsing around at helmets the last few days I have really been let down. The styles and such that are out right now simply don't really make me go "Oooooohhhh" at all. I just don't really like the styles that are out there. For her we'll probably just go with a solid color helmet, because none of the "girl" designs look good at all.
In the mean time, I'm going to stick to my current lid...it's a KBC Force RR Airborne 2 Limited Edition. I got it about two years ago and it's been a great helmet for me. Here's a picture of it.
But while browsing around at helmets the last few days I have really been let down. The styles and such that are out right now simply don't really make me go "Oooooohhhh" at all. I just don't really like the styles that are out there. For her we'll probably just go with a solid color helmet, because none of the "girl" designs look good at all.
In the mean time, I'm going to stick to my current lid...it's a KBC Force RR Airborne 2 Limited Edition. I got it about two years ago and it's been a great helmet for me. Here's a picture of it.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
New Blinds for Bedroom
So all of the improvements to the bedroom seemed to bring one thing out that I hadn't really thought that much about...
...the nice new fan, the new paint, the nice trim...all of it really showcased how bad the blinds in the room looked. So I decided that we should get some new blinds for the room, seeing as we were doing so much other stuff to the room.
We were at the store tonight and the blinds were all on sale. Mini blinds were 20% off so I found some that would work for like $8 each...but then as I was looking I noticed some Roman shades that were specially designed to be energy efficient. They are made out of some material that shields heat out in the summer and helps keep cold out in the winter. Basically, they help to keep the temperature in the room at what you want it, and not at what the weather wants it.
They look pretty nice. They were a little bit more expensive...well, about 3 times as expensive...at $24.49 each after the sale...but these ones were 30% off so I saved over $10 per set. I only had to get two of them because there are only two windows that use the 35" size. I have to go back to get one that's 42" or so in length for the other window in the room.
I'll try to get them up in the next few days.
The Last Spartan???
So throughout the lore of "Halo" so far, we have basically been taught that Master Chief, Spartan 117, John is the last of his kind. The last member of the Spartan II project that is alive. The war with the Covenant has rendered even the best of the best mostly dead.
At the end of "Halo 3," it is believed on Earth that even Master Chief is dead. However, we know otherwise. We know he's out there floating in space, sending out a signal constantly, waiting for a vessel to pick him up while he's in extended sleep.
So as far as the humans on Earth know, there are no more Spartans...but we know there's one, out there, waiting for the next time that Earth needs him.
However, it would appear that at the end of "Halo Wars" we are going to find out that there are actually another group of Spartans still alive out there in the universe. I was reading about the Spirit of Fire ship, and it turns out that it will use it's FTL drives as a bomb to destroy The Flood, and when they do this they render themselves stranded on the planet, hundreds of lightyears away from UNSC space.
So, it turns out, that maybe there is actually a group of Spartan II soldiers out there still...I'm sure we'll find out in a later game...
By the way, what WAS that thing that Master Chief was floating by when you finished the game on Legendary?? A Marathon colony ship???
Halo Wars
So I got my copy of "Halo Wars" today on the way back from getting the ceiling fan. I got the Limited Edition of the game, and it's pretty cool. The packaging is nice, the extras are nice, and the game is pretty fun.
The game comes packaged in a tin that has "cover art" on both sides of it, so that when you put it into it's protective sleeve you can have either the bad guys (Covenant Elites) or the good guys (UNSC Spartans) on the front of your case. It comes packaged with a hard cover full length comic book about the events in the game, some trading cards, a patch from the ship that is in the game, and a few other extras that you can download. I'm really impressed with the package all around...it's got some good stuff in it.
The game itself is pretty good. I'm not really big on RTS games, but this one is pretty straight forward and focuses more on the actual action in the game than on managing resources and such. It's pretty easy to just save up some resources, build a giant army, and attack. It works out pretty well that way, but not always.
The story is pretty good so far...but I just found The Flood (another group of aliens in the game) and that seems to be the point in some of the other "Halo" properties where things go a little bit downhill...so we'll see how that goes.
I do really enjoy playing the game, but I'm not sure how much replayability it will have. Seeing as I'm not very good at RTS games, I don't really see myself playing it online an awful lot against other real people, but who knows I might just give it a shot anyways. I guess even if I don't like it, I've still got "Left 4 Dead" to fall back on...actually, tonight, after playing some "Halo Wars" in single player for a while, when I got the urge to play against someone else I TRIED to find a game online in "Halo Wars" but couldn't find one, so I popped "L4D" in and playe d that for a little while...
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Celing Fan...Done!!
So my dad came down today...EARLY. He wasn't supposed to show up till after 10:30 or so, but he was here at about 10:15. Cathy and I had planned on going to get the fan at about 2:00pm or so, but my father and I went and picked one out. It's a Westinghouse brand, model Comet 3 speed 52" fan. After all the costs involved (including lunch for my dad for helping) the total cost was just under $125. Not too bad, right in line with what I had figured we would end up spending on the fan.
We got it home and got everything underway. It went up pretty easily. Took less than an hour and a half I'd say once we actually started working. We only ran into one problem, and I believe that was a screw that was stripped in the package, not something that we actually did.
The fan hung easily, the wiring was already there from the fan before, and everything went together really well. The fan is pretty modern looking, and man does it ever move air!! When it's on it's highest setting you can really feel it moving some air around in the room. We use the fan in the bedroom we're using now on high, but I think this one might be just as well off used at medium.
I did notice one thing when we were putting it up...I now seem to find little bits and pieces of wall that need to be touched up with paint literally every time I go into the bedroom. I've been sticking painter's tape to the spots that I find, and it seems like there's about 20 pieces on the walls and trim now. It's probably not really that bad, as I keep finding things that I'm SURE you wouldn't see unless you were looking, so I realistically could probably just leave them...but I feel that they must be done or else the room won't be complete!!!
GS-1000 Luggage
So I've been thinking a lot lately about potential luggage for the Suzuki. From what I'm hearing, a big front fairing looks MUCH better on a bike when the bike also has some nice luggage in place on the back of it.
I've got those nice soft cases that I plan on getting for the sides of the bike, but I would also like a top-case of some kind. The soft cases are easily removable from the sides of the bike, but the top case would be something that would be more or less permanently installed on the bike. Of course, it could be removed, but not as easily as the soft sided bags would be able to be taken off.
I have a couple of ideas, and most of them revolve around the fact that the bike already has a Vetter luggage mounting system on it. The mount for the top case isn't a luggage rack, so many of the universal ideas for motorcycle trunks won't quite work out, as they generally require an actual luggage rack in order to be mounted on the bike easily. I could, I guess, try to create some kind of luggage rack that would actually work with the Vetter mounts, but that might be something that wouldn't end up being as sturdy as I would like it to be.
In the end I will probably need something that will just mount directly to the bars that are on there currently. I am looking into the option of getting a luggage rack, but they seem to be pretty hard to come by for this bike, so I've been coming up with some other ideas for what I could try and use for a hard sided case on the back of the bike. So far I have a few...but they will be VERY utilitarian. The leading candidate right now is a Coleman Cooler mounted directly onto the bars on the back of the bike. This would serve a couple of good purposes...it would hold lots of stuff, it would be relatively water tight, and best of all it would be able to keep things cool if they needed to be kept cool while riding...like milk or other groceries from a quick trip to the store...or lunches on the way to work.
It might not look the greatest in the world, but I've said it before and I'm sticking to it, I'm going for function WAY over form on this Suzuki. It's a bike that's going to be ridden for a lot of things, so as long as it doesn't look like it's just been crashed, then it looks fine to me.
Besides, the cooler might not be the WORS looking thing that I could mount on there. I'm also toying with the idea of using a toolbox, a big plastic storage bin, and many other things. In the end I may still end up trying to make a universal trunk fit onto the back of the bike, but in the meantime I'm keeping my options open!!
I've got those nice soft cases that I plan on getting for the sides of the bike, but I would also like a top-case of some kind. The soft cases are easily removable from the sides of the bike, but the top case would be something that would be more or less permanently installed on the bike. Of course, it could be removed, but not as easily as the soft sided bags would be able to be taken off.
I have a couple of ideas, and most of them revolve around the fact that the bike already has a Vetter luggage mounting system on it. The mount for the top case isn't a luggage rack, so many of the universal ideas for motorcycle trunks won't quite work out, as they generally require an actual luggage rack in order to be mounted on the bike easily. I could, I guess, try to create some kind of luggage rack that would actually work with the Vetter mounts, but that might be something that wouldn't end up being as sturdy as I would like it to be.
In the end I will probably need something that will just mount directly to the bars that are on there currently. I am looking into the option of getting a luggage rack, but they seem to be pretty hard to come by for this bike, so I've been coming up with some other ideas for what I could try and use for a hard sided case on the back of the bike. So far I have a few...but they will be VERY utilitarian. The leading candidate right now is a Coleman Cooler mounted directly onto the bars on the back of the bike. This would serve a couple of good purposes...it would hold lots of stuff, it would be relatively water tight, and best of all it would be able to keep things cool if they needed to be kept cool while riding...like milk or other groceries from a quick trip to the store...or lunches on the way to work.
It might not look the greatest in the world, but I've said it before and I'm sticking to it, I'm going for function WAY over form on this Suzuki. It's a bike that's going to be ridden for a lot of things, so as long as it doesn't look like it's just been crashed, then it looks fine to me.
Besides, the cooler might not be the WORS looking thing that I could mount on there. I'm also toying with the idea of using a toolbox, a big plastic storage bin, and many other things. In the end I may still end up trying to make a universal trunk fit onto the back of the bike, but in the meantime I'm keeping my options open!!
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