Just wanting to wish you a

Happy New Year

I wake up this morning with this grinding sound coming from my furnace. First thought that goes through my head is a new furnace is going to be our Christmas present. But having the presence of mind to not start calling around looking for a new furnace I go downstairs and take a look at it. Thinking the bearings on the fan are toast, I go get the oil to try and lubricate them in hopes that they will last the remainder of the winter that way. I open up the furnace, and start turning the pulley on the motor. The motor turns, the belt turn, and the pulley on the fan turns, but the fan doesn't. So, I give the fan a little turn, nope it's not seized up. Turns out the set screw that holds the pulley on the fan had just come loose. Grabbed the right sized allen wrench, and viola, it's fixed.. Whew, there's at least three grand I don't have to find right now. What a way to start the week, stress, frustration, and relief all in about ten minutes...
Hope the rest of the week goes better.

It's here.

First, Happy First day of winter...
Went to a friends house last night with our boys. Great thing about these friends is they have two kids that are close to the same age as our two, so friends for all of us.
While we were there Santa showed up with a small bag of goodies, man you should have seen the kids faces light up. One by one all of the kids got a gift from Santa, then after receiving a gift from him, they each got to sit on his lap and ask for what they want. This was quite a festive moment. Our older got a Road Rippers Honda Accord and the younger boy got a Road Rippers Dodge Charger. First thing the oldest wanted to do was race the two of them, yes mom's blood is in there. Anyhow, all had a good time, ended being a late night but was worth it. Oh, and thank you Santa for showing up there, I think you made some of those children's night.

Enjoy the winter, folks, it's here for three months...

So yesterday my seven year old boy is talking about Santa. He tells me he's going to leave a small present that him and his little brother are work on. Then says "I'm going to leave Santa milk and cookies, but I am going to leave him soy milk, just in case he has the same problem as my little brother (younger one is lactose intolerant)."

Today we went to another utahnissans meet. We were expecting about 15 to 20 people to join us for lunch today at TGIFridays, that turned into 30 plus people and 24 cars. We had made reservations for 20, figuring on overshooting, and they kept just coming and coming... Shnikeys... Took up the whole front line of parking with Nissans.. There was this Honda Accord that was checking them out, it passed, stopped, backed up, and passed again.
Then a group of us went on a cruise up Emigration Canyon, to East Canyon to Henefer, then to I-80 and down to SL. We had a Nissan 240 SX that slid off the road in East Canyon, then two other 240 SXs pulled him out. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would have NEVER believed it. The roads were nice, the traffic was light, and the company was fun. We had a great time and will be looking forward to doing it again.

fun in a minivan

Headed down 3900 South the other day I was stopped at the light on Highland Drive. Just as the light turned green, this guy in a Durango takes a right turn in front of me. I think I surprised him, I always drive the minivan hard on the gas, and I kept up with him.. He gave me this smile and thumbs up as I passed him. At first I was thinking "What is this guy doing?" then I realized, most people don't drive minivans like that.

Enjoy the eats

I've come to a conclusion. The gene that rules how well you administer guilt like my Jewish grandmother starts out quite recessive. As children, we don't give any guilt. As we become a teenager we can create some guilt, but not real well. As I get older, though, I realize that my grandmother wasn't well learned on how to put one on a guilt trip, her gene had just become more dominant. In fact it became so dominant, no other trait is perceived. Really, though, I have noticed this same gene getting more and more dominant in me. The moment after my wife accused me of being like my Jewish grandmother when I said "What do you think? I'm incompetent??"

Yes, it comes down to this, aside from the religious aspect of Judism, the Jewish trait gene is recessive at birth and slowly gains dominance as you get older....

We have found how much we really appreciate the interstate system in Salt Lake, specifically I-215 East side. Yesterday (Friday) a propane tanker overturned on the exit from I-80 westbound to I-215 Southbound (click on map) at about 2:00 in the afternoon. One of the tanks started leaking, and the UHP closed the route to I-215 from Foothill headed south. This cut off a major route from north of I-80 to the south part of Salt Lake Valley. So all the traffic had to re-route, and between 1300 East and Foothill there are only TWO routes that cross I-80, 1700 east and 2000 east. We live in East Milcreek, and both of us work in Research Park, so we travel 2000 east every day. The Friday night commute was the worst I have ever seen. What usually is 15 minute drive home from work turned into an hour and a half commute for Rae, and through re-routing and driving the neighborhood roads I was able to get home in about 40 minutes. The amount of traffic, going down 2000 East was amazing. It was even more than you see when the fireworks end at Sugarhouse Park.
So I have a renewed appreciation of Foothill Blvd and I-215, to those that travel I-215 regularly, thanks.

Trip to MA, pt 3. Return to home

Last day was spent packing up and getting ready to go home, rain put a damper on our plans to hit the beach, so we hung out for a bit at my aunts, drove the 1/4 mile to the 100 year old great aunts house and said goodbye and were on our way.
We were flying Providence to Detroit, and Detroit to Salt Lake. I was nervous about the second leg since it was almost a four hour flight, with a four year old and a seven year old. This was the last of five days of them being together 24 hrs/day and they were at each others throats. However it seemed like once we got on the plane all was calm for them. They even slept part of the second flight.
As for me, though, this was a busy leg. As you all know I tend to prefer the blue oval (Ford). Irony on this flight was that there was a Ford Employee sitting next to me. Spent the flight talking about what was, what is, and what will be. Ended up quite informative, and best of all I ended up with a copy of a quiz from it. I will leave you with this quiz, if you wish to e-mail ( the.gearheads@gmail.com ) your answers to me and I"ll let you know which ones you got correct. Good luck

1. How many years has the F-Series been the best selling vehicle in U.S.?
A. between 10 and 20
B. between 20 and 25
C. between 25 and 30
D. between 30 and 35

2. In 1925 Ford built the first tri-motor airplane. How many tri=motor airplanes were built by Ford?
A. 99
B. 199
C. 299
D. 399

3. Which of the following Ford products is the best-selling SUV of all time?
A. Expedition
B. Excursion
C. Explorer
D. Edge

4. The GT40 won the "Triple Crown" of automobile endurance racing (Daytona, Sebring and LeMans) with 1-2-3 finishes in each race during what year?
A. 1966
B. 1971
C. 1976
D. 1981

5. What year was the Excape Hybrid America's first full hybrid SUV launched?
A. 2006
B. 2005
C. 2004
D. 2003

6. What Ford vehicle sold 1 million units in its first 18 months?
A. Explorer
B. Mustang
C. Escort
D. Thunderbird

7. Of all sports cars sold in the U.S. today, how many are Ford Mustangs?
A. 50%
B. 25%
C. 33%
D. 20%

8. What was the GT40 named for?
A. It had 40 horsepower
B. It was first built in 1940
C. It was 40 inches tall
D. It was the artist's 40th rendition?

9. What vehicle brands are in Fords current portfolio?
A. Jaguar/Lincoln?
B. Mercury/Volvo?
C. Range Rover/Mazda
D. Ford/Astin Martin

10. Ford recently celebrated it's 100th anniversary, what year was it celebrated?
A. 1998
B. 2001
C. 2003
D. 2005

11. Who invented charcoal briquettes?
A. Albert Einstien
B. Henry Ford
C. Carroll Shelby
D. Mark Twain.

Back in Mass. PT 2

Next day, a trip back to the old neighborhood (where I spent the first eight years of my life) with my brothers, wife and kids came with. Got to the old neighborhood in two minivans, snapped some pics of the old house and the neighborhood. One of the neighbor ladies came out asking what we were doing. After stating that we had lived there we found out she was the same (crotchety) lady that had lived there when we were kids. So was a lot more friendly to us as adults, but still you could hear the crotchety undertones. Met another lady that still lived there, she wasn't as crotchety and was surprised to see us
After that we stopped for some pizza, then went to the Lexington Green. Nice historical site, but the little one like the size of the Green so much he ran and ran... Yep, you figured it... Just ate, then all that running, got a little bit sick. We WERE gonna cruise through Lexington for a bit with my brothers, but thought it was best to get him in the van resting, which he did, slept most of the way back to Wareham, even through the downpour.

Monday was a day for the boys, also the only day it didn't rain. First we went to the Factory Five Racing plant. Kids had a blast with all the cars there. Each boy had a camera and took some cool pics, I will post them on our photobucket later.
Next stop, lunch. After that we went and checked out "Imagination Island". The boys loved it, had some good play time, got to play pirate. Couldn't get the younger one off the car, he REALLY likes cars. I'm tellin ya, i am gonna put a Club on the Cougar before he hits 10, and there will be only two keys, one in my pocket, one in my wife's pocket..
Last stop for that day was Plymouth Beach. Spent about an hour there, nice to get the feet wet. Though I think the lifeguard was a little young. Did get a nice pic of my love and our youngest.

Seein the fam - part 1

Finally took a trip back east, got the kiddies all packed and away we went. The flights were nice, thanks to the DVD player on the computer the boys were entertained through both legs. We landed in Providence on Friday night, to rain, lots of rain. So, we picked up the rental, unfortunately it thought it was well dressed, wearing a bowtie. Fortunately it had a built in DVD player, kids loved that (do you see a motif going on here, DVD players on long trips with kids = good.) So, off we headed to my aunt’s house in Wareham, Mass, where we were staying. She has a great little place, a half mile from the beach, more on that later.
We used Streets and Maps program to find our way, which told us to get off SR-25 on exit 1., Unfortunately we realize just as we pass exit 2 that it is the exit we needed, turns out there really is NO exit 1. Five miles later, the next possible exit, the road ends and splits into SR-28 and US 6. I have been to Wareham enough times so I knew I could just take US 6 and backtrack. That worked out just fine and only added about 15 minutes to the trip. Arrive at my aunt’s house, she’s waiting with others and food, damn good food. She ‘threw’ together this fry of sausage, peppers and onions. Anyhow, as far as the eating went, we spent four days visiting family who were either immigrants from Italy or first generation Americans of immigrants from Italy. Great eating.
Next day we got up and it wasn’t raining (yay) so we took a trip down to the beach. Checked out the shells and the hermit crabs and just got our feet wet. It was nice to be that close to the beach, could have walked, but with the threat of more rain didn't seem wise.
Next stop was the family reunion in Needham, MA, our main purpose for this trip. If you have ever spent any time driving in Mass you will understand this. Yes, we got off track. When we went from SR-24 to I-95 we headed north (after all we were south of Needham). Turns out that was the wrong way, but from the looks of “south” I-95 traffic was too backed up. So I got off and thought I could backtrack like I had in Wareham. Ok, so now I remember, Mass roads are NOTHING like driving in SL. Getting from point A to point B is easy in Salt Lake, everything is on a grid. Ended up doing a lot of winding through several towns, but got there about 45 minutes later. Oh, did I mention, it was raining again. Spent the afternoon with close to seventy or eighty relatives. Most of them I didn’t really know, but what the hell. It was a blast. The biggest event at the reunion was the 100 year birthday celebration of my great aunt. All of the kids got on stage and sang happy birthday to her. Then they brought out a cake for her. The woman amazes me, she is 100 years old, doesn't have hearing aids or glasses, and still walks without the aid of a walker or cane.
Her mind is as sharp as a tack, and she can still cook up a helluva meal. Cooking is her passion, and she hasn't lost her touch. After the reunion we headed back to Wareham, in more rain in the dark.

Went to Sugarhouse park today for a little meet of the members of utahnissans.com. Saturday at noon on a nice September day is not a the time to see if there is a free pavillion to have a BBQ. So the lovely mrs. gearhead and I pulled together a couple of tables, a BBQ and her moms really nice shade tarp and created a nice makeshift pavillion. The members brought chairs, themselves, and even their dogs and made themselves comfortable. With my love at the bbq, and me going to get things that turned up available AFTER I left, things went off quite well. Yasha, the member who started this whole affair, brought the hamburgers and hotdogs and Deano brought some chicken. A few other members brought drinks, chips, and a nice potato salad. All in all it went off well, dispite the annoying wind. So there we are at a Nissan website meet, and this Datsun (by Nissan) 1600 shows up. Nice little ride. The irony is that just guy decided to go to the park and walk his dog and he just happens accross this meet, so we invite him and his old time "Nissan" to join us. Still trying to figure out how he fit his Malamute Husky dog into that little car, and from Wyoming yet. At about three things started breaking up, a few of the members we talking about taking a cruise. It's a good thing we cleaned up then, they had forecasted rain showers for the day and shortly after we left the rain came. So that's one nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

This last Sunday we decided to check out the IMAFS brought us by NUMOA. For those not familiar with the acronyms (including myself until now) that is the Intermountain Mustang & All Ford Stampede by Northern Utah Mustang Owners Association. We found this car show through a link that clearly states it is up at Main Street in Park City. Great, this is an opportunity to get out of the hotter valley and enjoy the cooler mountain on one of the most beautiful mining town turned ski resorts I have ever seen. Main street still gives that old west feeling (minus the dirt roads).
Since this is an All Ford Stampede, we figure we should go up in Fords, of course so we go over to my brother's house. He drove his old battlecruiser ('72 wagon) and my wife, the boys, and I take old blue ('69 - 4 door hardtop sedan). And off we go.
So up at Main Street there's this really nice Arts Festival (in the immortal words of my older brother, "Yep, that'll kill half an hour" but don't really see much for old fords there.(????) I ask the hostess at a local restaurant about it, she states that the show was at The Canyons on Friday, then Main Street Saturday, but knows nothing about it on Sunday.
Hmmm... mapping tells me maybe I should check Dear Valley Ski Resort.
Well, no luck there so we figure it's a bust and we'll head home, but since it was at the Canyons the first day, maybe it's back there... Yep, there it was.

There was a nice variety of cars there, found the one that the boys liked the best, a beautiful red convertible, similar to the Cougar they know all too well (more on that at a later post). And then found another one with a very nice paint job, I like the subtlety of it. Although the pink one in the background, that was a little much. And yes, the valve covers and air cleaner were also pink, I was too busy throwing up to see if anything else under the hood was pink.
After looking at the cars our older boy convinced us we wanted to take a ride up the tram while we are there just as we get hit with rain, accompanied by a 10 mph headwind. Yeah, moving at 10 mph that made it one cold and wet ride up. But on the way down it was nice, almost like standing still. Next time our oldest comes up with a suggestion as that, we may be a little leery of it.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the nice old Bronco, this thing is almost too nice to take off road, a trail trophy on this would hurt.



It would be fun in Moab though.
Going down Parley's Canyon on the newly paved I-80 in the rain proved quite interesting also. Not sure why, but the rain created this foam on the road, I think it was a mixture of road oil, oil from the cars, and the first rain in a while getting stirred up by 60 MPH tires. All this in a large car I was not quite familiar with was a bit nerve racking, but we made it without incident. Anyhow, that is how we spent labor day Sunday.

Well, ok... so we have decided to join the times here... and here we are now with a blog... I will have to fill in what has been going on the last while, but it's late and I have a brake to assemble...