truck project

i bought a 1980 toyota pickup sr5 recently with the intention of a semi-complete restoration. not all original, auto show style, but just a simple body clean up and repaint, interior brought back to serviceable, and of course, mechanically sound top to bottom. to maintain some motivation via manufactured accountability, i will try a photo log (phlog?) of the process. first entry, the before.




















this gives an idea of the state of the body. the rust, sparing the tailgate, is almost all on the surface. notice the axe wound on the driver's side of the hood. i will post more as i progress.

you got garnished

i got paid last friday, and was about to pay my mortgage when i noticed that i didn't have as much money as i should in my account. when i looked more closely at my check, i noticed there was an after taxes entry labeled garnishment amounting to 25% of my take home.

my first thought was, "shit, that family i abandoned in tucson has tracked me down to collect the alimony i owe." My second was, "i took my tea party affiliation a little too seriously last year." But before i grabbed my bible and my guns and headed off into the woods, i checked with hr.

all i could find out on friday was that there was a judgement against me in excess of $1800 and it was in the "64th" district that the judgement was rendered. well, 64a is ionia, and they had no record of me in their system. Neither did 64b, montcalm. when i got home, i found a letter from sears holdings letting me know the attorney representing the plaintiff's name. this implied to me a civil suit, like maybe small claims, for which i obviously didn't show up, thus losing the case. this, to the best of my knowledge, didn't happen. but, with all the times i've moved and my lax attitude towards responsibility, who knows?

i finally got a call from hr on wednesday. apparently somebody entered the wrong last number in the actual defendant's social security number and somehow nobody caught on until i lost out on hundreds of dollars for a couple of weeks. i might be able to get it back on the next check, but it sure sucks to short until then.

i love being alive.

back in the saddle

i voted for pedro

all of my dreams have come true. Robotech is now available for instant play on netflix. i will now go and be 6 years old again.

this would have made a long comment

i realize people that are here illegally are committing a civil infraction, but just saying we need to kick them out and build a wall because the law is the law isn't a practical solution. i can't even imagine the resources it would take to enforce it. we would be spending billions of dollars to excise what has become a important part of our economy ( whether it should be or not). we can't really afford to do either.

i think we need reform on both immigration and the path to legal status for those already here. if the legal process wasn't so arduous, the desperate might not resort to fence jumping. if building a wall to separate people worked in berlin, we might consider it for a 1,969 mile border which consists mostly of open desert. the vast majority of people who are here and who want to be here are seeking the same thing my forefathers (or is it 4fathers?) sought: opportunity for themselves and their families. this does not excuse crossing the border illegally, but the gato's out of the bag on this one. it's like the war on pot, except it's a lot harder to seize contraband that has legs and a brain. the current solutions for both problems are not effective and at times are costly and counterproductive.

as for being exposed to people speaking mexican, some people like it and some people don't, but we don't have an official language, so they're legally just as correct as the ingles speakers. my great grandparents only spoke dutch, yet here i am, capable of putting together a sentence in english (sometimes), as are my parents and grandparents.

this issue doesn't have any easy answers, but cracking down on people has been historically ineffective in this country (revolutionary war, civil rights era). again, this is not to deify the illegals, but just a pragmatic opinion. in a perfect world, the immigrants would line up and ask nicely if they could please escape hardship and earn a good living because they would have a reasonable chance of success before they're too old to work. these people could then work legally and pay taxes. the people crossing the border for nefarious reasons would be the lion's share of those crossing, and we could more easily keep the hard drugs out (needle in a needlestack), which would keep american dollars out of mexican drug dealer hands, weakening their influence and make both countries safer. too bad world is an asymptote to perfect.

ok, ranting done.

ocupado

tomorrow at 4. woo hoo.

do you like apples?

in this case, her "numbah" is an accepted offer on a house. there are still inspections and a few details to take care of, but the tentative closing date is may 21st. thanks for all the advice and kind (or in zac's case, slightly angry) sentiments. one of the few things i've done right so far is convince/trick a lot of great people into being my friends. i appreciated all the support (cupping the air and lifting) you've all given.

mister rogers, signing off.