Bug Update: Band-Aid Solutions (Part 2)

I removed my battery's old positive and negative cables last night.

Apparently bolt-on cable attachments can get sketchy, so I ordered some new, one-piece units.

Check it out, you can kind of see the license plate I used to patch my batter tray. Now that's a band-aid fix. I tried to really clean up the area where the negative cable strap (silver) connects to the body. I used a wire brush that inserts into a cordless drill, and I could see a big improvement.

I've been learning a lot about the Bug's electrical system, but I was stumped when I discovered this connector. It's mounted under the car near the starter, but it doesn't appear in the wiring diagram.

I wanted to pull the wires off so I could clean the connections, but the wires were stuck. My guess was that they were rusted. It's been my experience that yanking on old wires usually results in something getting broken, so I wanted to identify this part before I broke it. I asked the people on the Samba forums for help. I was quickly told it's a "hard start relay", and it's also known as a "band-aid fix". One guy commented that my hard start relay is a sure sign of a poorly maintained car.

Here's the deal on these relays. The battery in an old Beetle is located under the back seat, and the ignition switch (where you put the key) is near the front of the car. This means electricity has to travel along one long wire from the battery to the key, and then to the starter's solenoid - which is in the back of the car. That's a lengthy loop, and there's a lot opportunity for an old wire to build up resistance. One samba member compared the wire to a garden hose and resistance to kinks in the hose. The more kinks (resistance) in the hose the less water (electricity) comes out. A hard start relay allows the electrical current from the battery to travel directly to the starter solenoid, and the loop is avoided.

Most people call this a band-aid solution because it allows a car with allegedly "dirty" wiring to start anyway. They stress that if you properly clean all of your connections and grounds the relay is unnecessary. Supporters of the hard start say that using it lessens the load on the ignition switch, and it's a better option than having to service 50-year-old wiring.

Two of the female connectors broke when I tried to clean my relay, so I decided to test how "clean" my electrical system is. I removed the relay, and climbed behind the wheel to see if the car would start. I turned the key and... nothing. There was no response from the car whatsoever. It was dead.

I then cleaned the relay's posts, I cut and crimped new 10 gauge wires, and I returned the relay to its place.

My car started as soon as I turned the key. What to do?

Let's examine my options. I could strip the car electronically and install a new wiring harness because people I have never met think that's the "pure" way to go, or I could keep this relay (which is clearly manufactured by Volkswagen) on my car and go on my happy way. Looks like I'm a starter relay kind of guy.

While we're on this topic...

Charlotte, this is what I want you to learn. Most of the comments in the forums about hard start relays are negative. That doesn't mean most people dislike them, it means the most vocal group dislikes them. Please don't feel that you have to follow the loudest or most popular opinion in the room. Weigh your options and go with what works for you. Keep this in mind when you're hanging out with friends, using social media, and watching or reading the news.

Also, the guy who commented that my car was "obviously poorly maintained" wasn't being constructive. He was being unkind to make himself feel better. Making cruel comments is his band-aid solution. Tearing someone down so you can build up yourself doesn't work. You can't heal your cuts by wounding others.

Even though you are only four, I have known for years that you have a huge heart, and unfortunately that heart will be an easy target. You feel rejections and criticisms so deeply, and this scares me. When I read about a child who committed suicide because they were bullied, I tear up and my stomach knots. Maybe some of your heart came from me.

This is what I want you to know. People will try to hurt you. They won't hurt you because there is something wrong with you. And they won't do it you because you did something wrong. I have found that people are most likely to want to hurt you but because you did something well, or you did the right thing. Nothing brings out the worst in some people than watching others working hard and achieving. These people are called haters, and you'll just have to learn to ignore them and their actions. That's an easy sentence to write, but it's not an easy skill to learn. You have to practice. As Mom and I are raising you, you are going to hear us saying phrases like these over and over.

"You shouldn't care what people who act like that think."

"You're a Monson, and we don't act or talk like that."

"Do what's right, not what's popular."

"Don't gives up! Charlotte Grace Monson can handle anything!"

That might get repetitive, but I don't care. More than anything I want you to work hard and do the right thing despite what others say or do. When you grow up and become really good at this, you'll know that there are people who are against you, but you'll embrace the fact that you are nothing like them.

 

"A man with any character at all must have enemies and places he is not welcome. In the end we are not only defined by our friends, but by those aligned against us." Frank Kelly Rich

Bug Update: Band-Aid Solutions (Part 1)

The roads in our neighborhood are pretty smooth and straight, so when the Bug's front wheels started vibrating at 45 mph I wondered what was going on. I consulted John Muir's "Idiot" book.

I found this.

That's exactly what I needed to know. The dampener is just like a shock absorber, except it's for the steering wheel. Here's a drawing of the steering dampener and its location. It's the fifth one down.

But wait, is it spelled "dampener" or "dampner"?  That might seem trivial, but it you use the first spelling for a search in TheSamba.com forums you get 100 matches, but if you use the second spelling you get 221 matches.

Neither spelling will help you buy the part from Wolfsburg West. They spell it "damper".

Spelling aside, most of the advice given on TheSamba states that replacing the steering dampener is a "band-aid" fix. People will tell you that if you're feeling shakes in the front end you've got bigger problems than the dampener, and your new dampener will only mask this larger problem until it wears out in six months.

Maybe that's true, but I ordered a new one anyway. John Muir was an aerospace engineer before he wrote his "Idiot" book, so I think I can risk testing out his theory. On Wednesday and Thursday night I sprayed the old dampener's nuts and bolts with Kroil penetrating oil and just let them soak. On Friday night the old dampener came out without much trouble at all. 

The old one had no resistance left; I could move the bar back and forth as if it was a slide whistle. It looks like this is an original Volkswagen part. This thing could be over 50 years old.

The job was pretty straightforward. I didn't even have to put the car on jack stands.

The steering felt much better on the test drive, and I'm pleased about that. This might be a band-aid fix, but I have no doubt that the old dampener needed to be replaced.

The people who take the time to offer tips and advice on internet forums are an invaluable source of information, but sometimes you just gotta go your own way. More on that in part two.

Safety First: Seventies Style

I laughed when I spotted this vintage helmet at the Hope Ministries thrift store. I knew exactly who would like pink metal flake.

But since a size small helmet won't fit my head, I decided to let Charlotte have it. I tried hiding the Arctic Cat helmet with the other metal flake helmets in the garage.

Like most people, I too have a shelf dedicated to vintage, metal flake helmets.

Char spotted it two days later. She's just like her mom; I can't get anything by her. I was hoping to surprise Char with the Arctic Cat the next time the snow piled up outside. It'd be just the thing to keep her safe while she's sledding the slopes.

Or surfing Nick Jr.

Daddy-daughter nights can get pretty wild, so a little metal flake protection couldn't hurt. I better go to the shelf and get a helmet for myself.

Yes He Did

I had Charlotte to myself on Saturday morning, and while we were driving between Goodwill stores Char declared, "Fart noise time!" and she started blowing big raspberries. We both laughed.

When our laughter died down Char declared, "God sure sent you the right kid, didn't he Dad."

First Snow Party!

On Thursday morning I was driving Charlotte to daycare and I asked her a question, "Char, if you could have any meal in the world, what would you want?"

"I'd want to have it at home."

"Okay, I'll make it at home. But what would you want me to make?"

After a lengthy and serious pause Char answered, "Pink fish."

Unless you are fluent in Char-speak, you might be puzzled, but I know that Pink Fish means Grilled Salmon. To make Grilled Salmon, I'd have to grill on Saturday night. The forecast for Saturday says we're suppose to get our first serious snowfall, and the high is 28 degrees.

Like I care. Let's fire up the Weber!

And let's have a winter grill party!

I didn't get a photo of Char swinging in the winter air, but here she is finding out that a snow-covered slide is too fast.

Luckily, our small sledding hill is just right.

Maggie stood guard.

After 15 minutes on a cedar plank, Char's Pink Fish was ready to go.

Since the coals were still hot, I toasted some rosemary garlic bread for a side. We also had some veggies.

I'm lucky it wasn't windy, and it's good thing I kept the charcoal where I could reach it.

My Goodwill Codes

I've been reading "The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime". 

According to Amazon, "In The Baseball Codes, old-timers and all-time greats share their insights into the game’s most hallowed—and least known—traditions. For the learned and the casual baseball fan alike, the result is illuminating and thoroughly entertaining."

This book has got me thinking. What unwritten rules do I know? Do I know any teaching codes?

Sure I do: In a staff meeting, never ask more than one public question, unless you want to appear arrogant. Never start a new discussion with less than five minutes left in a staff meeting, unless you want to be hated. Don't trust a staff member who prefers to sit in the dark. If you're not a coach, never complain to one about how long the day feels. Never plan on a snow day...

Nah. I don't want to write about my profession. I often write at home, and I don't want to explore those ideas at home. Besides, only new teachers need to learn the unwritten rules, and they won't read them because they think they know everything already. I know this is true because I was once a new teacher.

It would be more fun to write about Goodwill. Who knows more about thrift stores than me? Probably a lot of people. But I don't know those people, and they won't pass their knowledge onto Charlotte. Here's a list she and I will go over before we hit the thrift trail together:

"The Goodwill Codes: Oddballs, Cart Wheeling, and Smelling Like Menthols: The Unwritten Rules of America's Thrift Stores".

"There can be only one." (Highlander movie series.) - Almost every item in a thrift store is the only one of its kind for sale. This one rule breeds competition, jealousy, and theft. It's the catalyst for most of my other rules.

That item maybe the only one they have today... - Sure that complete Nintendo system in a someone else's cart may be the last one you see for awhile, but trust me. Nintendo made millions of systems. If you remain diligent, then you will see another for sale again. It will probably be at a cheaper price, too.

You can't call "dibs", and walk away. - Unless an item is in your hands, your basket, or your cart, it's fair game for everyone else. Shopping baskets aren't for holding your items; they are for protecting your items from others.

Other customers are watching you out of the corners of their eyes. - Holding up an item to inspect it increases everyone's interest in that item tenfold. Quadruple that interest if you verbally praise the item. Returning the item to the shelf to "think about it" guarantees it will be gone as soon as you turn away.

If you decide you no longer want an item your in your basket, then return it to the shelf where you found it. - Don't leave that old Walkman on the underwear shelf. Okay, there really isn't an underwear shelf at Goodwill, but in St. Louis I did see a men's clothing rack in a Salvation Army store that had slightly yellowed tighty-whiteys and old stretched out boxer shorts for sale. Each "under garment" was hung from the clips of individual hangers. Unfortunately, it's a sight that cannot be unseen.

When inspecting a lower shelf, kneel parallel to the shelves. - If you hang your bottom out into the aisle while you're bending over, then you'll get barked at, hit by a cart, or both. Probably both. In order to get as much product on the floor, the isles of thrift stores tend to be tight. Shopping carts aren't battering rams, but thrift shoppers tend to have the attitude, "I've got the cart. You get out of my way."

Be wary of thrift stores on the weekends. - These are peak shopping days of the week. The stores are packed, the lines are long, and tempers are short. Not only have your chances of scoring a cool find diminished, the humanity is multiplied by five: instead of one old guy walking around talking to himself, there are now five old men walking around talking to themselves. Body odor is also multiplied. I was once standing in a line for so long that I absorbed the smell of smoke from the other customers. When I got home my clothes reeked as if I had been at the casino. If you have to go thriftin' on the weekend, make sure you go as soon as the store opens.

Don't park next to cars without hubcaps or vans in any condition. - Door dings and/ or abductions can result.

Assume all working items will soon break. - Change the question "Does this work?" to "Can I fix this?" I've learned a lot by trying to fix items that later broke. Usually my monetary investment is so low that I dare take the thing apart to see what happened. Many times I fail at completing a repair, but the knowledge I gained has helped me in the future. That's worth more than the item or its price.

Sometimes an item not worth repairing should be purchased. - I really enjoy McDonald's double hamburgers. They currently cost 99 cents, and take me about three minutes to consume. The electronic toys at Goodwill generally cost 79 cents, and most of the toys I have cleaned up for Charlotte have lasted for weeks or more. When a toy does break, I throw it away during her nap. I then compare the time it takes me to enjoy a double hamburger to the amount of time the toy has entertained Charlotte, and know that I came out ahead.

If you can't use a electrical outlet to test an electric item, then leave the item behind. - I don't know why people would donate their broken property, but they do. If you are considering giving Goodwill an item that doesn't work because, "Well, maybe someone would want it.", then put it in the trash instead; that someone is probably at the dump. No one shops in hopes of buying broken stuff.

If you can use an electrical outlet to test an electric item, use other items in the store to help test it. - Not sure if that dented Blu-ray player works? Find a DVD and give it a spin. You don't even need a TV - if you see the word "play" appear and/ or a triangle pointing  to the right, and/or a moving counter (00:00, 00:01, 00:02...) odds are you are good to go. This applies to DVD, CD, VHS, and cassette players too.

This means "walk away":

Carry double and triple A batteries to test small electronics. - Just keep them in your car's glove compartment. If you don't have batteries with you, you can often find them in children's toys. A folding pocket tool with a small phillips head screwdriver is useful to get them out of the toy, but again, look around. Sometimes you can find the tools you need for sale on another shelf.

Don't be deterred by scuffs, marks, or stickers. - Goo Gone and Windex can clean up almost anything. I also use toothpicks for deep cleaning. They are great for getting dirt out of plastic seams, and the ridges around buttons (like game controllers). The wood is too soft to scratch most surfaces.

You don't need dressing rooms. - I've hated dressing rooms since I was a kid, and I don't trust that  an absent minded shopper won't lock me in by leaving a cart in front of my dressing room's door. So, if you find a cool pair of jeans, but are unsure if the waste size is accurate, just button the jeans and wrap the folded waistline around you neck like a necklace. Your neck is roughly half the size of your waist, so if the jeans fit comfortably around your neck you're all set. Don't believe it? Try it with your clothes at home.

Look for "theme" tables or "theme"clothing racks. - Sometimes the employees will get creative with the displays and gather similar items for sale. This year I was looking for a cheesy Christmas sweater to wear at school, and I kept checking the sweater rack. Turns out they had all the Xmas-themed sweaters on a rack I never browse. Here's the Xmas sweater I almost missed.

Break from your routine "shopping path". - When you get to know a store well you can usually breeze through in about a third of the time it would take to just roam around. The trouble is that employee turnaround can be pretty quick, and the new kid with the elongated earlobes might not know the third shelf in the back of the store is where he should put those steak knives. He might dump it by the children's toys. Which leads me to:

Keep small children in the shopping cart. - It might not dawn on you that someone might actually leave garden shears next to the box of Beanie Babies, but you just never know. A few weeks ago I saw a meat slicer just sitting on a couch directly across from the children's toys. I couldn't help but shutter as I moved it to a high shelf.

Broaden your goal when Goodwill hunting - Don't go shopping only for blank. You probably won't find blank, but you might find that childhood toy you forgot you always wanted.

If you're in a hurry to buy your items, look at what's in the shopping carts ahead of you. - A cart full of clothes is checked out much faster that a cart half full of glassware. Clothes can be quickly folded and stuffed into the shopping bags, but the checker will have to individually and carefully wrap each glass item in newspaper. This seems like it takes forever.

Look around; more things may also come with your purchase. - People are great at opening boxes to see what's inside, and terrible at putting the contents back. If you find something cool, check around the nearest shelves to see if the box, headphones, cables, remote, battery charger, instructions, lens cover, or anything else may have been separated from the group.

Flip it over. - Blurays, DVDs, CDs, and records can all be easily scratched. Check the side of media that the player "reads". Fingerprints can be easily wiped off, and light scratches can be buffed out, but deep scratches are a pain and probably not worth the work.

Look inside. - Blu-rays, DVDs, VHS tapes, CDs, cassettes tapes, records, video games, board games, puzzles, and even hardcover books need to be checked. Make sure the item is inside and that it matches the cover or the box. Mismatching happens all the time. Sometimes it's an accident, and sometimes people move a more expensive item into a cheaper case. Charlotte, that's called stealing.

Look for the remote. - I already said you should check around for a remote, but if you're considering buying a modern electronic device like a Blu-ray player, make sure you find it. If you can't, then walk away. You need that remote for so many of the player's functions. Without it, the player is almost useless. And since it's a special item, buying the correct remote from eBay will often cost double  or triple of what you spent on the device.

Make sure it needs a remote. - If you're looking for vintage audio equipment, don't fret if you can't find the remote controller. There's a chance the devise didn't have one. Check for this symbol:

(Thanks, Wikipedia.)

Usually it's small.

And sometimes it isn't there. Do you see that dark square in the above photo? That's probably the remote sensor. Sometimes you can find the words "Remote Sensor".

If you don't see the symbol, the words, or the square, then maybe it isn't remote compatible - like this Sanyo CD player I use in my classroom.

Forget about the remote. - For awhile I had a thing about collecting movies on CED. CED Link I found a sweet RCA Selectavison player at a thrift store, and it was remote compatible  Those are a bit rare. Of course the remote was missing, but I bought the player anyway. Later I discovered that I could use a universal remote from the Dollar Store to control the RCA. (If you're curious, the code is AUX, and then 058.)

Don't openly mock the store or what it sells. - If you are with a friend or shopping in a small group, then a laugh here or there is okay. But plenty of people are shopping thrift because it is the only place they can afford. There's no need to insult them.

Sometimes a big laugh can't be helped. - I was shopping with my friend Matt and he pointed out a used underarm deodorant for sale in the window. There was no cap, and the sun had melted away all of the product except a small, green blob on the end of the pointed plastic riser. The price was 10 cents. That might not seem funny to you, but when he handed it to me and I looked inside and saw that blob, I almost lost it. I don't know if it was the blob, or the fact they still wanted a dime for it.

Employees can be just as maladjusted as the customers. - Don't expect good manners from anyone else, but always show them to others. There's not a lot of kindness in thrift stores, and you don't need to contribute to that atmosphere.

Always correct the teller if they charge you less than the sticker price. - Most of the time the teller won't want to take the time to correct their error, but if you see that a mistake was made and you don't point it out, then you are responsible as well. Charlotte, that's also called stealing.

Have fun! I always get excited before I enter a thrift store. It's like an Easter egg hunt, but you have no idea if the eggs will even be eggs.

USA's Night Flight

I was in 6th grade when my town, Rock Valley, Iowa, finally got cable TV. I still remember coming home from school and finding a strange box with a dial sitting on top of the TV.

These were all the channels we had until that day.

It might look like we had 14 channels, but you never got that many. I think the most the TV antenna attached to our roof could bring in was six. But on that Friday afternoon our channel count leapt from six to 21. That was pretty impressive.

Of those 21 channels, HBO had me the most excited. I can remember the opening video that preceded the feature presentation better than most of the films I watched. I loved that model city the camera pans through and over.

I bet a lot of people don't remember that in the beginning HBO was only on air nine hours a day. From midnight to 3 p.m. all you could see was a blue background with the movie schedule crawling up the screen. It was a big deal when HBO started using a 24-hour schedule on the weekends a few months later.

MTV launched the same year we got cable (1981), but Rock Valley's cable company never offered it. Sure, HBO would sometimes fill airtime between movies with music videos, but that wasn't much good for a music crazy kid like me.

Instead, we had the USA Network. And that wasn't all bad. You didn't get music video 24-7, but you could watch the 30-minute program Radio 1990 every weekday at 5 p.m.

And on weekends you could expose yourself to other cultures.

But best of all, you could catch a ride with Night Flight. A few days ago Paste magazine published a list of the 80 Best TV Shows of the 80s, and Night Flight was at number 66:

I don't know how many of my boring, small town weekends were filled with the zaniness that was Night Flight. But I do know I was one of those impressionable teens; Night Flight was proof to me that the world was much bigger than self-righteous Sioux county.

Few, if any, of my friends watched Night Flight, and I didn't meet many people who had saw it when I attended college in South Dakota and Nebraska. So, Night Flight just drifted into a distant adolescent memory.

Every so offen I'd come across something from the 80s that would remind me of Night Flight - like seeing a video for "Beds are Burning" by Midnight Oil (Night Flight once aired a complete Midnight Oil concert). Then I'd Google around to see if I could find anything Night Flight-related. A couple of years ago I happened upon the iOffer website. A seller was offering a 35 DVD set of Night Flight episodes (115 hours) for $49.00. He, I assumed it was a guy, had recorded those 115 hours on videotapes, and these DVDs were the transfers from VHS. At less than $1.50 per disc, the price didn't seem unreasonable, and the seller had good feedback. Anymore, I don't buy anything online without checking feedback first- do you? So I took a chance.

I'm glad I did! Now I can relive my well spent youth while I'm out in the garage. Here's my low-buck stereo setup.

That's Daphne's old 13-inch tube TV that I convinced her not to throw away. Hooked up to it is a $3.99 Apex DVD player, and a $14.99 Harmon/Kardon computer speaker system - both from Goodwill. The speakers connect to the DVD player with a headphone jack/ RCA cord, and the cable TV connects to the DVD player through a used FM modulator.

It sounds really good, an it's surprising how much bass the Harmon/Kardon woofer puts out. Here's what I see when I roll out from under my car.

When I first started recording programs on a VCR, I tried to pause the recordings during commercials to make the tape seem more professional. Now I enjoy the old commercials as much as the old features. Check out the dude's hairdo and the grocery gal's shoulder pads in this news spot (you might be able to still get in on channel 8's "Week of Caring" - you're only 30 years tardy).

VHS quality recordings look pretty poor on modern televisions, but they look pretty good on tube TVs. So I think it's fitting that I play these recordings in the garage.

It's too bad that it got so cold this week. I think I'll wear a stocking cap while I watch that Midnight Oil concert tonight.

Taking Flight

The only high school sport I was any good at was track. But even that success was limited. My short legs kept me out of the high and long jumps, I wasn't big enough to "put" the shot anywhere, and I was about as quick as the month of January.

When I was a freshman I even tried to pole vault. It was after a winter practice in the gym. I ran the pole down the floor, but I missed the metal box that the pole plants in, and the end of the pole was instead wedged behind the box and against the thick, red mat. The pole was bent, but I could see it had no hope of lifting me. I released my grip, and to my horror the pole sprang into flight, did a midair flip, and then crashed into the electronic scoreboard. Sparks and shattered bits of light bulbs exploded from the wall. I can't remember how many bad words my coached used, but it was a lot. I wasn't even allowed to carry the pole vault bag to the bus after that.

That scoreboard was broken for a month, and every time I walked into the gym for P.E. I tried to not look at it. The dent and empty bulb sockets were glaring reminders of how pathetic I was.

So, why did I say I was good at track? Well, as far as athletic talent goes, my only strength was that I could endure pain. And that's what made me so well suited to be a long distance runner. I've got terrible eye-hand coordination, but to be competitive in long distance races all I had to do was remain upright and make subtle left turns. I could do that.

I didn't have any real strategy when I began running races. I'd just set my pace so I'd be near the front of the pack. If it was painful, I'd just put up with it. When the time came to make the final turn, I'd crank up my pace to where it was almost intolerable and then I’d see what would happen. That didn't work for every race, but I did win quite a few.

My problem was I'd get so nervous. I was afraid I'd let down my team, disappoint my coach, and embarrass my parents. It's not like I hadn't done that in other sports. Then there was that pain. Yes, I could endure it, but I also dreaded the enduring. On track meet days I couldn't concentrate in class, and I wouldn't eat anything at lunch. By the time I stepped off the bus that afternoon I'd be sick to my stomach.

The 3200 meter run was always the first race of the meet, the 1600 was in the middle, and the open 800 was near the end. By the time I was off the track and off the hook, the concessions were closed. And by the time I got home around 10 pm, I'd be starving.

That's when I could count on my dad. He'd never tell me that he was proud of me; we didn't have that kind of a relationship. But as soon as I walked into the house there would be a steak dinner waiting for me. Sound fancy? Not really. We had a permanent gas grill in our back yard that was hooked up to an underground gas line, and Dad grilled dinner three times a week. Every year he'd buy some large package deal from the Rock Valley butcher, and we always had a  freezer full of meat. Dad's way of telling you he loved you was to make you dinner.

I'm the same way with my family, but I say the words, too.

Back then the Monsons always ate on trays in the TV room, and Mom, Dad, and I would watch the end of the news while I scarfed down my meal. Soon they'd go to bed, but I was too hopped up on adrenaline and protein to hit the sheets, and so I'd turn the TV to the USA Network. At 11:00 that station would start airing my favorite TV show of all-time Night Flight!

And that's what I'm going to write about tomorrow.