Ren--already ready for spring training--and the future of arashi

Howdy all, I know it's been forever, but that forever has not been wasted. I just noticed the other day that Kirk has taken me off his "Bloggin' Buddies" list. Ouch. On top of that, my parents finally got access to the internet, and they've been on my case about updating my site. My parents finally get interent, and the first thing they tell me is I need to update my site more, wtf? Well, I guess I should update more, eh?

So, a couple weeks ago, Yoshiko, Ren, and I were in Park City at the outlet shopping center making the rounds (no pun intended--you've had to have gone there to understand) and while we were in the Nike store, Ren comes up to me with this

It was one of the funniest things ever. I guess I have to teach Ren baseball now. My dad would be so proud! I actually love baseball, almost as much as I love soccer.

Ren is getting so big! I look at older pics that I have, and I cannot believe how much he has grown. A few weeks ago, we were up at a good friend's house in Fruit Heights, and while Yoshiko and Yuriko were talking, Yuri's husband and I taught Ren how to play Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt--talk about retro. The greatest, and probably one of the funniest, thing was when Ren almost got to the end of the first level on Mario. Not even 3 and can almost beat Mario! Sheesh, I was almost 6 or 7, albeit that's when it came out. I don't have a pic of him playing Mario, but here's Duck Hunt.

Just as an added bonus, I'm going to post a pic of Yoshiko and Ren. Tons of people tell me that Ren looks just like me, I think he looks more like his mom. Maybe he looks like an Asian version of me... Nah! This pic was taken a couple days after the last time I posted. Right now, Ren's hair is quite a bit longer. People started calling him a girl again. I think he needs a haircut (lol).

Well, as of next Wednesday, I am officially a semi-bachelor again. My wife and son are leaving me to go visit the country of short people, neon lights, cool cars, onsens, and good food. I have to stay here for the 4 weeks they're gone. I think I am going to go nuts. Maybe. I guess I still have school. Maybe I'll actually get some of my turbo project done while she's gone. Here's a couple pics of what will be going on my car:

I have already hooked up the turbo timer. Right now, it's only just a glorified volt meter. It's actually a bit of a weird feeling to walk away from your car with it still running. Here's a pic of the inside at night with all the gauges on (the orange light on the right of the steering wheel is the timer):

As for this blog, I'll do my best to try to think about posting. After Yoshiko and Ren leave, I'll really have nothing to post. Maybe I will. We'll see if I can actually catch up on all my school work and have time to start blogging again.

KIRK, you should add me to your bloggin buddies again ;). Oh, and next time you decide to grace Utah with your presence, make sure to call me back when I return your call.

Pretty Pic of Granny

I took this pic outside of SLC International Airport at the pick-up area while I was waiting for Yoshiko, her mom, and Ren to come out of the terminal. Granny had just had a bath, so I took this artsy pic and I thought I'd share it with you.

My car: great success!!!

I have finally finished fixing the front end of my car. I still have a few things to do, but all-in-all, I am done. It feels nice to have my car mostly done. My only problem with my car is that it is three colors. My plan for my car is now to turbo it, change to a bumper like I had before (a little more aerodynamic and has foglamp holes), and paint it again.

Here's a pic of the car with the hood scoop.

I like the look of the hood scoop. Definitely not something you see every day. When I paint the car, I'll paint the scoop, too. You'll barely be able to tell that there is a scoop. Anyway, the car looks much better than it did with the dented parts and than it did without any front bumper

My fun and exciting day!

Here is a picture of how I left the Grand Am this afternoon when I went to work. Cool, huh? As Yoshiko was leaving for work this morning, her car wouldn't start. It cranked but nothing. I was positive it wasn't the battery, but to make sure, I tried jumping it with my car. Wouldn't start. I let her take my car to school thinking I would have it started in time to go to work. haha. I talked to a mechanic friend who gave me a list of things to look for, including one I gave to him.

First thing I did was read the owner's manual. I needed to make sure that the security system hadn't disabled the car. Yesterday was over 90 degrees, so Yoshiko had the windows cracked. Today was a heavy rain day. I think we got about as much rain today as we normally get in a month during the summer. The car's door panels were drenched. After researching, I found out that if the security system had disabled the car, it would shut down the fuel pump. Well, that was the second thing that I needed to check. Fuel pump status: fine.

Well, this leaves three problems. Either the engine is flooded, the spark plugs are bad, or the coil pack is dead. First problem is easily fixed--just let it sit for several hours. The second is also easily fixed--just costs $25 for the new plugs. The third problem is really a problem. According to my mechanic friend, it would cost around $300 for a new pack. And that is if I do the repair myself. Ouch! When I go home tonight, I will check to see if the coil sparks. If it does, I'm changing the spark plugs.

With today being a rainy day, and me having no car, I had to do quite a bit of walking in the rain. I really don't know how I did that so willingly as a missionary in Japan where it rained every day of the year (including holidays :P). I guess clocking in about 15 miles is good exercise, eh? The walking was for a good purpose, though. I bought a tiny-bit-late birthday present for Yoshiko. I bought the best thing I could think of, especially with us just buying a piano--piano music. What I bought her wasn't just music, it was a load of music. Or as my Aussie friends would say, a heap of music. Two books of around 50 challenging pieces a piece. I think that will keep her busy for a while. She really was excited when she opened that present.

Well, I made Yoshiko come home from school early to give me my car so I could go to work. I was still almost an hour late. Tisk tisk, you say. Ha! Can't really do anything about it. One working car, and it's mine. I find that ironic. My car, the reliable one. That's what we bought the Grand Am for. I really hope it's just the plugs. Well, I took Yoshiko back to school and came to work.

You might think that the day is going to be better, haha, no way. The best part of my day was giving Yoshiko her music. That made the whole day worth it. Anyway, after I'm done with work, I have about six assignments due tomorrow in one class. Usually the Summer semester is easier because of less time. The teachers for the two classes I'm taking this block are doing everything from the regular-length semesters. It's too much. I'm about as stressed out as they come today. I need a break!!

Driving a 2003 BMW 325i

One of my good friends from wind orchestra decided to give his older (late 80's) Bimmer and get something a little newer--somewhere around 2003, but under $20,000. He said he really wanted a BMW, but was out of his price range. Well, he got lucky and found an almost mint 2003 like the one in the pic, but black. Out the door, he paid $18g. Why so cheap? It had been keyed on the hood and trunk. That's it. Kinda funny to think that because "rich" people won't buy a Bimmer with scratches that have even been fixed, it significantly lowers the price of the car.

While we were standing outside his apartment admiring his car, he asked me if I wanted take it for a little test drive. Who would say no? The second I put my butt into the driver's seat, I knew I was in heaven. When I turned the key, I wasn't quite sure if I had actually started the car. It was, by far, the quietest car I had ever been in. At first launch, I was a little nervous. This was the nicest car I had ever driven, period. Instead of just checking left and right, I did a double take to make sure that there was absolutely no other cars coming. Once the car had warmed up, my friend told me to gun it. That was some of the best acceleration I had ever felt. My son in the back kept saying "wow!" I think he likes test drives as much as I do. Another thing I was impressed with was the handling. The car cornered incredibly well. I did tell my friend that a strut bar would greatly improve that. The one thing I thought could be improved is the bolster on the seats. My friend said the sports package editions have huge bolsters like the seats on my car.

All in all, this car is perfect. Black on black with black tint. If you can afford a BMW, I say go for it. Personally, I have several cars that I would like to own before I own a Bimmer, but I will own one someday. I think I'll go with the turbo charged 5 series tho ;)

My fun Saturday

When I started my day, this is what my car looked like. It still had it's smashed-in face, half-smile look. I finally got the tools together that I thought I would need to fix my car and make it look normal again. haha.

First thing I did was remove the bumper cover. I believe that took about an hour. After removing my bumper twice, and a couple other storm bumpers, I should have had this off in 30min. I ran into a little problem pulling it off the passenger side. The reinforcement where there was the most damage had bent up into the headlights making it almost impossible to pull the cover off.

So, with the bumper off, I started making my plan on how to fix my car. I realized that nothing was going to happen with the passenger side headlights still bolted to the frame. I removed those and pulled out my come along. after pulling out the come along, I realized that the wire was too short to wrap around the tree. So, off to the hardware store again to buy a chain.

With the chain, I was finally able to start working on my car. The first place I tried was the reinforcement. That didn't seem to go too well and I figured that I might need more tools. I knew too that I would not be able to put the old cover back on. I decided to try and pull out the frond end as much as possible. The pic on the right shows the come along attached to the top of frame. I was able to pull the frame out enough to get the hood closed. Talk about work that is a pita. I know it's going to be worth it when I'm done, I just wish that it wasn't so insanely tuff. It's easy to get discouraged when you're working on your own car, I guess. Anyway, after pulling on the top of the frame for a while, I thought I would try on the reinforcement again. As I was ratcheting it, the handle bent almost completely around. I guess I don't know my own strength. I didn't think that I could max out the limit on the come along. The weight limit on come along was 1500 lbs, and I figured that since my car only weighs like 2200 lbs, I should not go over the limit. Was I wrong. Luckily, the hardware company gave me a replacement. I think I'm going to take that back and get a come along with a higher weight limit.

Driving with my bumper off is an adventure. As I was heading to work today, it felt as if I was fighting the wind the whole day. Not fun at all. I can't wait to finish my car. Below is a pic of the broken come along and a pic of what my car looks like now.