I passed my English Class! And got 5 lug tires on the Mustang!

I don't know the score yet, but I believe it will be a B. At the worst I will pass and that makes me happy considering it has been 8 years since my last English class, Comp I. We also had to write a poem as part of the final so here it is.

Youthful Garage Work

Just below the hangers,

drawers and pegs

beg for something to hold.

Oil soaks a hand-made workbench

and tools and air guns and bits and wrenches.

All left out of their place. All did not need it.

Evan’s little hands are also there

trying best to clean themselves

but spreading evidence to shirt

and pants and wide-eyed face.

The towels come out

and begin to clean

both boy and tools.

Grandpa and Dad

just hug the lil’ fool

hoping he’ll come again.

---L. Kemp

Also last weekend David and I completed the 5 lug project on the Mustang. At least for the most of it. We still need to change the brakes over, but for now it's pretty good. We also ran into a problem with the clearance of the dust caps on the front rotors but thanks to the guys at www.allfordmustang.com we found a simple solution. Below are some pics. By the way this is also where the poem occurred!

Mustang 5 Lug

My First You Tube Video!

I needed some stress relief the other night and the kids provided it in the form on interpretative dance. OK, maybe that's stretching it but enjoy!

79 - 81 4 cyl Fox Body Mustang 4 to 5 Lug Conversion Part One

That is some title huh? Can't be much more specific than that. My mustang is my hobby away from computers. It's always a learning experience, even with the multitude of information available on the web. That being said, I never did find a 100% complete how-to! So here is my first try at such an article. Hopefully it will help someone.

Quick Disclaimer! This may not be the only way to do it, but it worked for me! First, good luck finding a Rotor that will work on the stock spindle. It doesn't exist, I don't care what they said I tried them all, with multiple bearings to no avail. It is not worth the trouble, so don't go looking. Moving on of course, what can you do? You must replace the spindle and the caliper. It's not as hard as it sounds. First get the right spindles. For the cheap approach like I did, find spindles from a v8 in the 87-93 mustangs. Fairly inexpensive, I paid about 100 for a set that was sanded for me, and rebuilt calipers as well. You will also need new rotors. You have a bit to choose from now. Lincoln Continental, Lincoln Mark VII (85-91), or '84-'86 Mustang SVO. They are all going to be the same new from an auto parts store, so just get the least expensive or go find your own! I paid about 100 for a pair including the brake pads! Aren't I thrifty! You will also need inner bearings and seals to match the rotors. TO MATCH THE ROTORS! I will find out exactly with model v12 I believe, and add it here later. The outer bearing from the 4 cyl will work here! though!

You start by removing the tire of course, then the caliper. It is held on by two bolts to the spindle. Next simply remove the old rotor taking off the dust cap with a screw driver, then removing the bolt and washer. Keep all those parts as you may need them again.

Removing the old spindles is not an easy task, though not complicated. You have two bolt attached to the strut, one to a ball joint, and one to the steering. I recommend getting the right tool for separating from the ball joint, it requires quite some force. We used a sledge hammer with the wedge needed as it was so tight on there.

After the spindle is off you need simply to go in reverse. Now is a good time to clean off some parts down there though. Then begin attaching your spindles. We had a pair off of a 1989 v8 mustang. They bolted right up. Then put your bearings in your rotors, and pack them well with lots of bearing grease. Don't forget to put in a seal. Next place it on your spindle, this requires a lot of the bearing grease for lube. There is a .003 difference in diameter, it will fit! I know, I've done it! Trust me I was giddy the first time the bearing slid on the spindle after some lube. Moving on... Put in the outer bearing, and the washer, bolt, dust cover, etc. Don't forget the bearing grease! Now you are ready to take off the old calipers and put on your new wheels. Guess what I haven't done that yet..... So part two is still to come! For now we put on the new wheels, and use one bolt on the calipers to keep them up. They look good so pics will be included in the conclusion!

Easter Fun

Well spring break and Easter have been fun. I've got lots to write about, zoo, Easter, a movie etc. But today is the last day and it's Easter, so you'll have to wait till tonight! Later!

Oh, check out the new album.

Avant Window Navigator and More

I just finished installing the Avant Window Navigator, or AWN, which creates a really useful and nice looking deskbar similar to OSX. With some other tweaks I've created a desktop I really like to look at. I'll post a pic so you can see. Other than that I've got a short break for spring break and hopefully Diana the kids and I will have a good time. Easter egg hunt tomorrow, already! Well wish 'em luck, they'll have fun either way. I'll try to take plenty of pics! Cya!

New Technology at the School (Hopefully!)

Quite a few large grants are being applied for this year, and most should be rewarded. The middle school is working on an eMints/METS Grant for 4 classroom labs and 5 additional rooms to get new equipment, though not a full lab. The intermediate school is doing their 5 year of the eMints for all, which will actually be for the 7th grade, adding 4 more classrooms with new equipment, exactly the same as the 5 above. And the high school business department is going to replace both labs, as well as the health occupations lab and an additional one. Quite a few changes considering the libraries are all being replaced with thin clients as well this summer. If all goes as planned, the "extra" technology should trickle down though the system ridding the primary school, and the remaining departments in the middle and high schools who have less grants to apply for, of most of the older equipment. We'll definitely meet last years goal of no computers less than 500MHz, not counting thin clients, and might even be able to stretch that to 1GHz. That's quite an updated system. Hopefully we'll have enough tech budget to replace any remaining infrastructure, network switches and cable, to bring everything up to date. The biggest challenge won't be getting it in. It won't even be this year. It will be years from now when this equipment gets older and needs to be replaced, whether grants are available or not. I'm praying someone looks at the bigger picture this time and goes for a long term plan, something that should last 5 to 10 years. Not 2 to 5.

Well I just needed to vent that. Doesn't sound like I'll have time for a vacation again this year, but somehow we'll manage. I really want the kids to go on some trips and have fun. Even if we don't go far I'll make sure we go to the park and zoo every week!

New Pictures and other Random Thoughts!

I added some more pictures to my photo album. It's the kid's at a pig farm. There were only young pigs, all about 21 to 24 days old. The oddest thing was the smell. Growing up visiting my Grandparents who had hogs I had a certain smell in mind and knew it wouldn't bother me but this was a pungent ammonia odor. Actually made it hard to breathe in deep, but it was still fun. The kid's really enjoyed it and if I posted the right one you can see Evan's cheeks puffed up. He was holding his breathe ;-)

Diana was listening to Jeff Foxworthy's countdown and he said it was national caffeine awareness month. I'm AWARE of caffeine, very aware indeed. Actually here is an article supporting coffee & caffeine. So kanpai!

Last but not least we were attacked by a rabbit again tonight. I've seen 'em do stupid things like jump in front of cars, but never had I seen one actually run up beside one in the way a dog would, and practically give chase. But the craziest part is what I mentioned before, again! It happened last night and tonight north of town on our evening drive. I may have to come up with a new route.

Google Stuff and Linux

It's really surprising when you look at how many sites and services Google offers most at no cost. Guess they must really know how to push advertising. Anyways what is more interesting to me is their effort to supply some of those apps and services to users switching to Linux. I'm currently running Picasa on Ubuntu and can even use it to post pictures directly to my website. Aside from Picasa they've made Google Desktop and Google Earth available. Now I'll admit I'll likely never use Google Desktop as I don't have a need to search for files on my computer, the actual main use of Google Desktop. It does provide a way to search the web from your desktop but at what point is it really more convenient than just going to a search engine, or using the built in search in most of todays browsers. As far as Google Earth goes, as neat as it is I can do the same thing on a web page so again I don't feel the need to install it. But they did put in the effort which is great. Other popular companies have also made great software available for Linux, Sun and Adobe. I personally don't mind that the code in proprietary, since they are still providing it for free just as they do for windows. I'm going to continue to find ways of doing everything Linux that the average user does in Windows and post them here as I find them. So far though for the last year we've been pretty satisfied, but most of the "testing" so to speak is done by Diana, since I trivialize almost every task on the computer. Later! ;-)

Welcome to My Journal

This is going to be my first entry. I realize this is public so I'll do my best not to say anything I'll regret online, but I need a place to both vent and unwind. Hopefully this will help me accomplish this.
I'm sure to talk about everything from my family, to work, exercising, and of course computers and Linux! I think I do a little of all right now to get started.
If you made it here you more than likely know me already, if not I'm married with two great kids a boy (3) and a girl (2). They're really fun most of the time, and the rest, well they make me insane but I can't complain because at least I get a break unlike my wife.
The break of course is work. I'm a technology specialist at my home town school. I love it, and it's inspired me quite a bit. It's made me think in different ways and allowed me to experience aspects of technology I may have never tried out. Aside from that I've become interested in teaching as well. In the future I hope to pursue this, we'll see how it turns out.
The best thing that happened with this job was a bigger push personally into open source software. I wasn't a stranger to it before, but with this job I didn't just use one or two open source softwares, I jumped all the way in using Linux and some amazing tech. Each day I learn more, though not as much as the first couple months. It's been a great time for me.
Well that pretty much brings it all together as far as how things are going for me right now. I mentioned exercise before though so I'll bring you up to date on that as I will likely use a section of the blog to post my calories and exercise. Should help me keep on track! I started off at 225lbs at an Dr's appointment in December. Since then I've dropped to about 200 give or take. My wife and I began counting calories in January, and soon after I began exercising with my brother-in-law. I progressed from just lifting weights to using the treadmill and now average 250 to 300 calories burned a day on it. I feel a lot better because of it, and hopefully I can get back into the fitness I was in while I was in the Guard.
Alright, I guess I'll continue next time!