Car day!

It may seem like forever since I've actually done WORK on the barracuda project, but that's only because it's been probably 3 full seasons since I've done actual work on the car.

I had a pretty okay fall, but it ended with some broken nuts and general disappointment in the setback, considering my last task was just to torque up the rear end and put it to bed til spring.

Then winter, though light in number of days of snowfall, produced some pretty heavy snow leading to a caved in carport roof.

Spring was spent sorting out a new roof for the carport and tracking down new bits for all the broken bits from the fall.

So here we are in July. It's freaking hot and it is my least favorite season. I try my best to get out in the earlier hours on the days I have off, but my days off have been full of rain, for the most part. Today, I had plans...and I stuck to them.

My new goal in life is to simply keep busy in order to stop feeling lazy. I've split my days into task quadrants.
Work days, of course, start with work...then play time with Orbit when I get home which hopefully wears him out so that I can spend 30 minutes to an hour on some yard cleanup...then food at some point, is a bonus...prep food for the next day if need be...more play time with Orbit...hubs gets home and I aim to get a little quiet time before eating and hitting the hay.

Days off are a little different since I honestly have zero motivation to do anything after a long day of constant face time with needy grocery store customers, mostly people who think I owe THEM for my paycheck (which I do NOT!) and the longer ride home due to the excess traffic made possible by the droves of people who think sitting in traffic in order to sit in line hoping to get to the beach before sunset is the best summer evah!
Days off start early but go by my schedule.

Gotta shop? Get there when the store OPENS.
House work? Do it the minute Hubs leaves for work!
Then the car comes next and is hopefully 'done' before the sun is the highest.

I had all but my computer work done by noon today...and that included a second round of fetch with Orbit and my lunch.

I had a good 'first' day with the car. I'm feeling positive, yet anxious. But that is better than flat out anxious, which is how I have been feeling.

My car goals today were:

1. get some reference pics of the engine (before I continued disassembly)
2. Clear out the buckets of water and crap I had been using as weights for the carport
3. Check to make sure I had clearance to get under the car and replace the oil pan gasket
4. Check the fitment of the exhaust manifolds
5. Order new U-bolts (since I broke the nut and have been urged to just replace those rather than just put a new nut on)

I had a good time of un-doing some hoses and tipping over some buckets of water.
But the best part of my day?

Realizing that these exhaust manifolds are going to work great!

I spent all winter thinking I had to figure out a whole new plan for the exhaust because my brain was not working properly.

I was trying to line up holes that did not go together! I was trying to fit my exhaust manifold on my intake manifold but there's a whole other piece of car that goes between them!!

Not only that, but the headers that where in there needed to be cut out...in a thousand pieces...because the steering column is super close to the engine (which blows my mind since the engine bay of these old cars is miles wide!).

There's a bit of wiggling to get the driver's side in, but it fits! And that means the exhaust should be pretty straight-forward, since once those are in, the exhaust pipes just bolt on! (I think)

I was also able to find a place to get replacement U-bolts, which will ship Friday.

In Orbit news:
I can not believe how far we've come with his training!
We've had him 7 months, exactly, today.
When I think back to the days when I would cry all day thinking he'd never stop biting, I am in awe.
When I think about how he never settled down and just had to be on the move constantly, I can't believe he's sleeping in a chair right now.
When I think about how he would jump on every person he met, and then to last week when he played with strangers and didn't jump on any of them....I just can't believe it!

Today I ate my lunch without giving him something to distract him. He started off just watching my from his blanket, where he usually gets a filled Kong to keep him busy. When I did not give him his Kong, he simply jumped up and slept by my side until I finished my lunch.

It is weird to think back to the early days, since they are not that far behind us, and remember how I just couldn't see him changing. I could not see a future where I could sit at my computer while he slept in the chair beside me...or eat a meal without his face in my plate or him barking at me. There were times when I didn't think I could walk through the front door, or introduce him to new people, without having his nails on their flesh.

I can't believe how far he has come. I kinda want to cry just thinking about what a good dog we got out of the messed up beast we adopted 7 months ago.
He's far from being the perfect dog Moxie was, but she will always be the perfect dog that no one could match. Orbit is doing a pretty damn good job of coming close...and he's only 13 months old ;)

We're headed into Independence Day celebrations here in the states...which seems lame considering the state of affairs, but enjoy whatever freedoms you may have (or perceive you have). I hope your little fur-babies don't have noise aversions. We were also lucky to have caught Orbit at a stage where we could nip that in the bud, as well.