Haven't Forgotten

Yes I am still here and kicking, but it's been a busy several months and the military having moved me to Kingston, than to Petawawa a week later, than back to Kingston before Christmas to get my military drivers's license, than home for the (and a very busy) holidays, than back to Kingston for 2 weeks before sending me to Alberta for my soldier's qualification course, than back to Kingston for a few days before them sending me back to Petawawa. It's nice to be somewhat settled and actually have a desk to sit at to actually do some work online...too bad my new laptop's been crashing or shutting down me for the last month and a half. I can do alright, just can't overload it. Definitely a hardware issue, part of it is that it's overheating so I can't run it in "Performance" mode, but she'll do OK until HP figured out what's wrong with it themselves. I know it'll need to me replaced or physically repaired, but I gotta run through the motions with them. It's an HP TX2-1360ca tablet PC I picked up in June. Awesome little machine and does games quite safisfactory; fortunately since it's the only tablet PC with an actual decent video card, but it doesn't have the build quality of my old LG.

Last year was a year just to stay afloat, but I did manage to pick up a new car. Found a 2004 Mazda Rx-8. I actually was trying to find something 2006 and up, but this thing is MINT, never winter driven and owned by a Mazda Tech so it's got all the upgrades done. The only thing it needs is a new set of tires. I picked her up on Thanksgiving weekend, enjoyed it for that weekend, than immediately put her away for the winter and am anxiously waiting for spring! I will say I did miss having a car and it was nice to be back behind the wheel of something quick and nimble. The Rx-8 has it's own page in the "Projects" section now as well. It's all stock, but that will of course change in time. :D


The truck is sticking around forsure. Did some off roading, including swamping a bit of the truck and broke her water-cherry. Broke 1 starter and 2 alternators last year, as well as stripped some wheel lugs. I've got a flashing SRS light from the water because it damaged the pre-tensioner in the passenger front seat belt since it was submerged in water, but it'll get fixed once Nissan eventually gets the part. The water incident also took out my 1200w inverter, so it was upgraded to a 1750w inverter showhorned under the passenger seat. Advernture Weekend was awsome, but cold and rainy, especially for in September, but we made the best of it. Picked up a few recovery items before the winter, but so far haven't recovered anyone at all, but I did use the winch several times off-roading, and it works great. Even wired in some in-cabin controls; those were very convinient.


Although the year did start great, I have encounted a roadbump, but it's one I can overcome, just sets me back financially. This year, the Rx-8 needs tires before it comes on the road in spring. I'm also looking at going to goneMOAB this year, especially since I can't take any vacation time between May 30th and September 30th, so might as well take one hell of a trip. Only with that, the truck needs some upgrades. High on the list for that is full skids, I want to throw in a locker in there too since it's recommended so that I don't have to "bump" obstacles, and upgraded tie rods since I haven't done that yet. The Grassroots4x4 so far has done an amazing job, but I'd feel more comfortable eliminating one more weak link in the steering system. Truck will more likely need an exhaust system too, and I'd really want to put headers in there while I'm at it, but I'll have to play that one by ear. I got my 1-year pay raise on the 25th, and just in time to make 2011 enjoyable!