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The 5/31/05 episode of The Chair and Automan is out. Download the MP3 directly here.

In this episode:

• I talk about guilty pleasures, songs that you are slightly embarassed to say you like.
• I play some songs that I consider “guilty pleasures”:
  • Midnight Cowboy by Ell & Will.
  • Libations by Christopher Burns.
  • Wheel Up by Calibe more is available here.
  • And the guiltiest pleasure of them all goes to Death vs El Grande: Deathmatch! by The Wolf.
• Audio feedback/promos are always welcome at jaslusher AT gmail DOT com.
• Later.

I’m very, very, very tired. I will get some sleep and try to put out a ‘cast this afternoon.

I keep saying it is an 88 Crown Victoria. I actually got an 88 Mercury Grand Marquis. Not that there is a huge difference, but for the sake of accuracy, I thought I would correct myself.

Man, this is a good picture of Emily:

Thanks, Bruce.

The 5/26/05 episode of The Chair and Automan is out. Download the MP3 directly here.

In this episode:

• I talk about my trip to Tybee Island
• I talk about putting a new engine into the F100.
• I play some songs:
  • Into My Life Again by Green Street.
  • I dedicate the song
    When He Met Her by Crush One to my wonderful wife.

  • Jesus Elephant by Lorenzo Goetz
  • Josephine by James Scott Bullard.
• I give yet another shout out to the Tortuga Rum Company and Caribbean Free Radio and beg for a flask from TRC.
• Audio feedback/promos are always welcome at jaslusher AT gmail DOT com.
• Later.

I’ve long thought that my mental agility was becoming less, ummm, ya know, agile. Now, I have proof. When I do moronic things, we all know: it’s the diabetes.

Out of sheer self-disgust I’m not going to post all of the pictures of me out on the beach imitating a fish belly in all of my lilly white glory.

Here’s a self-family portrait:

Of course, Emily was loving it and insisting that we stay on the beach as much as possible. Here she is standing at the water’s edge:

This next image is more of a warning. Never eat the bottom of your ice cream cone before you eat the ice cream. Just ask Emily, she will tell you.

Tybee Island is a great place. I would move there in an instant. We were on the small end of the island and it is set up such that you really don’t need a car once you get there. If Marilyn hadn’t gone into Savannah on Monday, our car would have been in the same spot the entire time.

We stayed in the HoJo and were about a block from the beach. At Emily’s insistance we made plenty of trips to the aforementioned beach and it was a pleasant little stroll each time.

There were restaraunts aplenty and we ate 7 meals at 6 different eateries. We walked to each of them. All of the food was good and simple.

Marilyn has talked of wanting to develop a more bohemian style of life and that would be a great place to do it. The people were all quite friendly and the island has such a laid back atmosphere that you immediately begin to relax. Just what you want on a vacation, eh?

The family and I are back from our little trip to Tybee Island, Ga. Man, we had a great time. I will post pictures and more details later on.

I went and bought the 88 Crown Vic. I have this feeling of simultaneous excitement and unease. I’ve been talking about upgrading old vehicles to EFI for years. Now it is time to put it to the test.

This afternoon I disconnected everything on the F100 except the motor mounts, transmission mount and the fuel lines. When we get back from our beach trip, I will yank out the engine and transmission on the truck and start disassembly of the Crown Vic.

Wish me luck.

She ain’t what she used to be, that’s for sure. The F100 broke down on the way home from work Thursday night. When it cut off, I knew things were bad. It didn’t just stop firing. It was more like it shuddered to a stop. I let the old girl coast as long as she could.

I hate carrying my cell phone. Its a piece of call-dropping junk and most of the time I don’t bother with it. Yesterday I just happened to have it on me. So I called my wife and promptly got cut off 3 times before she understood me to say I was stuck on I-20. As I was hanging up, the low battery signal came on and the phone promptly shut off. It’s better to be lucky than good.

I got it towed back to the house and checked it out this morning. To make a long diagnostic story short, the camshaft is broken which is very bad. The engine is essentially shot.

Good news is, now it becomes time for the EFI upgrade. I went by to see a man about an 88 Crown Victoria. Whew, what a nasty thing that is. It’s gross. Really gross. But the engine and transmission are smooth enough and he will sell it to me for less than $500. I would have bought it today, but he couldn’t find the title. He has it now and I will head back over to his place in the morning and buy it.

This should be interesting. I’m sure that it will not go as smoothly as I’m hoping and I may or may not have it running by the time I have to go back to work next Friday. This ought to show how good of a mechanic I really am. I hope I’m as good as I like to think.

You know what? I have a degree in Industrial Psychology and I’ve worked in a tire plant for longer than I have ever worked at any other single career, including as a mechanic. Yet I still think of myself as a mechanic. Odd, huh?