I guess it just doesn't happen to much to me. At the hospital, I like to make small talk with patients and family members to help pass the time by. An easy topic to discuss is always the weather. Or so I thought. I spoke to one lady a few days back, about how I can't believe that it's almost June and we still have weather in the 40's and 50's. Well this lady had her own thoughts on why the weather has been so shitty. So says, verbatim, "I blame the astronauts...the Lord didn't intend to have all that stuff placed on the moon...not suppose to be there." Wow. Now I didn't know if I was that surprised by her answer or the fact that she actually thought this out. What do you say after that? I don't recall what I said, but I was quickly on my way to find some busy work. Who knows what else this lady had thoughts on that I just might bring up.
Byrge
May 28, 2011
May 16, 2011
KC Lights Install
All I needed was a little direction. With my father in law's help, we layed everything out and figured what went where. After he instructed me on what needed to be done, I spent a few hours taking my time to get everything squared away. I was frustrated at certain times, but once I got going, my frown flipped over as I was excitied once the lights were operational.
On this view of the engine bay, running from the passenger to the drivers side towards the rear, there are green and white wires that are used for the switch inside the cab. Once everything was connected and the lights were powered up, 1/2" conduit was used with numerous zip ties to clean up the inside of the engine compartment.
The battery terminal area was my most difficult spot. Two holes where drilled through just above and to the left of the battery for the relay and a ground connector. In the photo, the white and yellow wiring were mounted to the positive side of the battery.
On the driver's side, there is a removable panel, which is where I was able to feed the green and white cables through. Note, the opening was made through some foam insulation, and after an opening was made, fishing the wires through was no problem. No drilling required!
Here is a view of inside the cab after installation was completed. The on/off switch was mounted below the steering wheel on a removable panel which made placing the hardware a much easier task. Also, I removed the stock ground connector for one slightly larger then used one of the two screws that are to the left of the pedals.
After a four hour evening of getting the lights wired up and working, I was pleased. Two days later, while at the firehouse, I spent another two hours concealing all the exposed wire and cleaned up everything else. And guess what? They still worked after I got done with everything.
Byrge
May 15, 2011
What's Next?
With a little down time at home or work, it seems that my mind drifts off into the world of Jeeps. Why the hell do I love them so much? I mean I love these rigs as much as a fat kids loves cake. Now I can only dream that one day, Project Fallen Axe will be as sweet as the rig you see above. But hey, I'm realistic. I only really want to do just a few more modifications to my JK. Now, after having the new front and rear protection all mounted up, those stock tires just look out of place. What is a man to do? My only options for tires would be either the Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac or the BF Goodrich Mud Terrains. These two are the only ones that I would be happy with that come in the stock size of 255/75/R17.
Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac
BF Goodrich Mud Terrain
- 255 stands for the width of footprint of the tire
- 75 represents the length from the rim to the tread pattern
- R17 designates the rim size diameter
May 14, 2011
Hyperbaric Oxygen
delivery of the new chamber in April of 2008
Working for 24 hours and then being off for 48 has some benefits. Some include having to drive to work only once every three days, get things done such as yard work or doctor visits during the week and most importantly, spending time with my kids. It does have some disadvantages as well. For instance, just being away from family as well for 24 and even sometimes 48 hours. But the good out weighs the bad. For me, I get a couple days a week with the little ones, but also work part time as a Hyperbaric Technician at St. Luke's Medical Center.
I've been with Aurora since 2000, and have had a few different roles. And right now, I don't plan on changing that anytime soon. Working as a Hyperbaric Tech a few days here and there is great for my family and me. It has given me the opportunity to purchase my new toy, Project Fallen Axe, back in September of 2010. Below are just some photos of our new department.
a US Navy Diver's helmet on display in the department
view of the entry way into the chamber ML1
a view of behind the chamber where all the lines come up from downstairs, plus where, if needed, the chamber can be run manually
a view of the control panel during a routine dive, with two monitors looking into the chamber
Byrge
May 13, 2011
Bumper Install!!
My dog Gabi barks at almost everything that walks, drives or floats by the house. It's kind of annoying at times. But in mid March, she started again so I decided to peek out the front window to see what it was this time. Ahh, it was FedEx backing into my driveway. It could only be one thing. My bumpers. After helping Mr. Delivery man unload the boxes into the garage, I contacted Scott from St. Luke's who would be mentoring me on how to mount the new protection to Project Fallen Axe. Within a week or so, we set a date to put everything together. I couldn't wait.
The front bumper removal was pretty straight forward. Took off the plastic shroud that was underneath the front. Then removed the eight screws holding the factory fog lights into the stock bumper. Now it's been a few weeks since we did this, so I can not recall how many other screws we took out to take off the front bumper. As I remember though, it was quite simple. Above you see the JK shortly after removal of the stock front bumper. Mostly made of plastic, as it did not have that much weight to it.
The rear bumper was pretty straight forward as well, with a total I believe of about eight screws holding it to the frame. Once we took that off, I was extremely surprised that I could toss the bumper around like a rag doll. Much lighter than the front bumper. I couldn't believe that Jeep would have that as the rear end protection. Oh well, I wasn't too worried about it. With Project Fallen Axe getting the rear bumper with tire carrier, we had to remove the factory spare tire carrier, which included the third brake light as well. More to come on what was done with that later in the post.
Now for the fun part. The mounting of the front bumper was easy. Eight bolts, that's it. But first, we did screw in the factory fog lights with the screws that came with the new bumper. No problem there. Then we just slide the Rockhard 4x4 bumper onto the front frame rails. The only disappointing thing I have to say about the front bumper was that no instructions came with. Now we're not rocket scientists but there were eight metal spaces that we didn't know where to mount. But after discussing how they fit, we were able to figure out that they go on the inside part of the bumper where the eight bolts get mounted. The bolts just pass through the spacers to make tightening up everything much easier as far as accessibility went. That's it. I was very pleased.
As for the rear bumper, instructions were included with all the hardware. Thank goodness. The actual bumper was somewhat difficult to mount due to it being a tight fit onto the rear frame. Using a few different methods we were able to mount it securely using some of the pre-existing bolts from the factory bumper. Two on each side, then two bolts that came with the kit into the middle of the frame. The two in the middle were a little difficult to get at which made tightening those down a pain in the ass. Never the less, it was able to get done.
Now before we added on the tire carrier, the stock spare one had to be removed. Unplugged the third brake light and unscrewed it from its mount. Then took out the screws that were holding the tire carrier frame to the tailgate. After reading through the instructions, I found that no where did it mention of mounting the brake light to anything. Instead, I took the wiring and tucked it into what I call a bash bar that came with the rear bumpers. This piece just mounts using a couple bolts through the factory holes. I purchased separately some rubber washers to place between this bar and the tailgate to protect the paint and more importantly, to keep water from finding its way inside the tailgate.
Now I thought the most important part of the install was anything that moves. Hence, the tire carrier. To my surprise again, the directions were very simple to understand. A few washers, mount the swing arm, a couple spare washers and then the cap. Again I have to thank Scott for his expertise here because I knew of nothing regarding dielectric metals. With his knowledge we lubed a few parts up and "BOOM" the tire carrier was mounted.
Byrge
After working at Luke's, Scott met me at the house to pick up the merchandise to take back to his man garage, where he had every tool imaginable to bolt these on the JK. Trust me, I was sure pleased that he's got a sweet work area, plus an even sweeter F250 where we could throw these large boxes in the bed. The above photo was taken in his garage after we unloaded.
The front bumper removal was pretty straight forward. Took off the plastic shroud that was underneath the front. Then removed the eight screws holding the factory fog lights into the stock bumper. Now it's been a few weeks since we did this, so I can not recall how many other screws we took out to take off the front bumper. As I remember though, it was quite simple. Above you see the JK shortly after removal of the stock front bumper. Mostly made of plastic, as it did not have that much weight to it.
The rear bumper was pretty straight forward as well, with a total I believe of about eight screws holding it to the frame. Once we took that off, I was extremely surprised that I could toss the bumper around like a rag doll. Much lighter than the front bumper. I couldn't believe that Jeep would have that as the rear end protection. Oh well, I wasn't too worried about it. With Project Fallen Axe getting the rear bumper with tire carrier, we had to remove the factory spare tire carrier, which included the third brake light as well. More to come on what was done with that later in the post.
Now for the fun part. The mounting of the front bumper was easy. Eight bolts, that's it. But first, we did screw in the factory fog lights with the screws that came with the new bumper. No problem there. Then we just slide the Rockhard 4x4 bumper onto the front frame rails. The only disappointing thing I have to say about the front bumper was that no instructions came with. Now we're not rocket scientists but there were eight metal spaces that we didn't know where to mount. But after discussing how they fit, we were able to figure out that they go on the inside part of the bumper where the eight bolts get mounted. The bolts just pass through the spacers to make tightening up everything much easier as far as accessibility went. That's it. I was very pleased.
As for the rear bumper, instructions were included with all the hardware. Thank goodness. The actual bumper was somewhat difficult to mount due to it being a tight fit onto the rear frame. Using a few different methods we were able to mount it securely using some of the pre-existing bolts from the factory bumper. Two on each side, then two bolts that came with the kit into the middle of the frame. The two in the middle were a little difficult to get at which made tightening those down a pain in the ass. Never the less, it was able to get done.
Now before we added on the tire carrier, the stock spare one had to be removed. Unplugged the third brake light and unscrewed it from its mount. Then took out the screws that were holding the tire carrier frame to the tailgate. After reading through the instructions, I found that no where did it mention of mounting the brake light to anything. Instead, I took the wiring and tucked it into what I call a bash bar that came with the rear bumpers. This piece just mounts using a couple bolts through the factory holes. I purchased separately some rubber washers to place between this bar and the tailgate to protect the paint and more importantly, to keep water from finding its way inside the tailgate.
Now I thought the most important part of the install was anything that moves. Hence, the tire carrier. To my surprise again, the directions were very simple to understand. A few washers, mount the swing arm, a couple spare washers and then the cap. Again I have to thank Scott for his expertise here because I knew of nothing regarding dielectric metals. With his knowledge we lubed a few parts up and "BOOM" the tire carrier was mounted.
Byrge
May 10, 2011
TNT
What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term "TNT?"
For me, it's the old Looney Tunes with Wile E. Coyote. And his attempt to blow up that damn Road Runner with so many explosives. It never worked for the poor chap. Always backfired on him in one way or another. Love those cartoons.
I only ask the question because now, "TNT" to me stands for my new tool recently bought for work. What is it you may ask? Best way to explain is that it's a fireman's axe on steroids. It has five different uses that will come in handy inside a structure. An axe blade, sledge hammer, ram, pry tool and pike hook. I am still pretty green when it comes to the fire service, but with the few fires I've had, I know this tool would have come in really handy. Hopefully, my TNT doesn't backfire on me like the coyote. Odds are slim.
Byrge
For me, it's the old Looney Tunes with Wile E. Coyote. And his attempt to blow up that damn Road Runner with so many explosives. It never worked for the poor chap. Always backfired on him in one way or another. Love those cartoons.
I only ask the question because now, "TNT" to me stands for my new tool recently bought for work. What is it you may ask? Best way to explain is that it's a fireman's axe on steroids. It has five different uses that will come in handy inside a structure. An axe blade, sledge hammer, ram, pry tool and pike hook. I am still pretty green when it comes to the fire service, but with the few fires I've had, I know this tool would have come in really handy. Hopefully, my TNT doesn't backfire on me like the coyote. Odds are slim.
Byrge
May 2, 2011
To Run or Not to Run
Been a while since I've done any laps. Started today heading west on Cleveland, like every other time, and by the time I got Andover Rd, felt like things were loosening up in the lungs. Think I'm nearing the end of this cold.
05-02-11
0.21 minutes - 341 cal 193 max / 164 avg
1.6 mile run in 17.00 minutes (one lap)
Byrge
05-02-11
0.21 minutes - 341 cal 193 max / 164 avg
1.6 mile run in 17.00 minutes (one lap)
Byrge
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