This afternoon was experiment day in the kitchen, and I don’t mean cooking. At the moment I have a variety of printouts and magazine clippings coated with various substances either laying around drying, soaking in ice water or baking in the oven. I am working on making some image transfers I can stick on things … trading cards and canvases, to be precise.

So far I have learned that ink jet printer and regular paper doesn’t work with acrylic paint, acrylic mediums or liquid polymer clay. Though if I don’t scrub off all the paper, the liquid polymer clay one did turn out sort of cool and usable. At the moment, the test subject in question is a clipping from National Geographic Magazine with the liquid polymer clay. We’ll see how that goes. I am also going to do a test with the same source material and acrylic paint/medium … depending on whether or not I get the results I am after with the polymer.

I want to try glossy and matte photo papers with all three substances as well, but my printer is running out of black ink, so it looks like further experimentation is going to have to wait. Probably a good thing. The whole house reeks of chemicals and whatnot, and Lin will be home soon. It’s Friday night which means it’s SciFi night … so there isn’t going to be a lot of artsy-crafty stuff going on later. No, Fridays are for being a couch potato and eating too much delivery pizza.

If all else fails, I can always just collage the paper onto the painting with glue and paint the edges down or transfer the image to fabric and do the same. Not exactly the look I was going for, but I don’t really feel like going somewhere just to get a few laser jet photocopies done for an image that’s only going to be about 4″x3″.

And I’m probably lying about not working on anything else crafty tonight too. I want to get started on my trading cards for this month. I’ve had a few ideas. I won’t be showing them to you until I send them out though, since they are supposed to be a little secret, so you’ll just have to wait.

A new study concerning cell phones and brain tumors which contradicts the last study is out. Cell phone usage can cause an increase in brain tumors among power users.

Kjell Mild, who led the study, said the figures meant that heavy users of mobile phones, for instance of who make mobile phone calls for 2,000 hours or more in their life, had a 240 percent increased risk for a malignant tumor on the side of the head the phone is used.

At the rate I talk on my cell phone, it would take 200 years for me to spend 2,000 hours with it stuck to my head. I’m not worried about it giving me a brain tumor. I will be demanding that Lin get a headset though, because I can tell you right now … he is well over 2,000 hours of lifetime cell phone usage, and that’s not going to stop anytime soon. I don’t think he has a brain tumor yet, and while we still don’t know for certain whether or not cell phone usage can lead to brain tumors, I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Besides, he’s dying to get one of those Borg-implant-looking Bluetooth things anyway. He’ll be thrilled to wear one so he can be as cool as the other boys.

I’m bored and don’t have anything much to say today, so it must be time for a willy quiz-meme-thing.
Continue Reading »

Just a little painterly scribble I did in my tiny sketchbook last night with some leftover paint.

I spent some time tonight doing math. I hate math. What sort of math was I doing? Trying to figure out where on the gas tank the leak may be by how much gasoline I could account for from the last full tank.

There were four gallons in the tank when I filled it today. Judging by odometer readings and my usual average gas mileage, I can account for another 4-5 gallons. That means that in the last 56-60 days, approximately 8 gallons of gasoline are unaccounted for … a half a tank … just over a cup of gas a day. After checking the amount in the plastic bin I am letting it drip into about an hour ago, I think that’s a pretty accurate estimate. That leads me to believe that the area that seems most wet, which also happens to be just above the seam across the middle of the tank, is likely where the leak is to be found.

With this knowledge in hand, tomorrow I will set about siphoning off 8 gallons of gasoline (I knew all those damn small gas cans I keep having to buy when I don’t have one would pay off one day), and then watching to see if it still drips. Bet you it doesn’t. That gassy smell I said it always has? It isn’t always at the same strength. This leads me to believe the leak is intermittent … like only when the gas level is above the leak.

I’ve moved from the brooding stage to the “let’s figure out how to fix this” stage. So you see … I am still not ready to give up on that car. You knew that though, didn’t you?

I am ready to consider getting a motorcycle (been thinking about it a while). Won’t that make my mom happy?

I’m going to go find something to watch on TV or do some work on some artist trading cards. I should go to sleep, but it’s almost morning already. Might as well just stay up. Not sleepy anyway.

While doing research on gas tank repairs, I ran across this hilarious and apt short story about one man’s experience with a brand new car: A Serious Buyer.

Read and enjoy. It made me laugh, and considering the topic and the sort of day I had, that’s amazing.

For those who don’t know, that’s the car that is causing all the woe today. By the time Lin got home, I was all puffy faced and cried out and had moved onto the moping and pouting stage of automotive mourning. I am now in the brooding stage. I’d say more, but it would only lead to more moping, pouting and whining.

I have thought it was Friday all day today … even though I pulled the trash bin to the curb last night and heard the trash truck this morning, a sure indicator that it’s actually Thursday. Yeah, my mind just isn’t functioning at 100% this week.

I moved the Dart from the driveway over to its usual parking space on the grass by my den window and put the plastic tub back under it. Since I put that under there a while ago, it’s collected a few tablespoons of gas. Most of it is still evaporating away as it leaks out, and after crawling under it and looking at it again, there’s no doubt now that the leak is well up between the gas tank and the trunk. That’s not something we can fix ourselves, and I suspect that having someone else do it would cost more than I want to pay. The smell of gasoline coming through the open window is oh so very delightful. I guess I have to close the window. Inhaling gas fumes can’t be good for you.

I sat on the porch for a while staring at the stupid car earlier … weeping. I’m sure the neighbors think I have finally lost my mind. I don’t really care. They are all crazy-insane anyway. I might as well join the club. I’m not wanting to part with my Dart. It’s sort of like saying goodbye to my dad all over again. Just thinking about it makes me cry. I guess I am crazy. No one should be this attached to a stupid old car that they used to hate with a white hot passion. No, really … I used to HATE that car. It was a pain in the butt to drive, it sucked down gasoline, and it was old and busted. When given the choice of walking somewhere or driving the Dart, I’d always choose to walk. My loathing of that car ran deep. That’s how I felt about it until my dad died, and I inherited it. Then suddenly it was the most wonderful car in the world. That’s what sentimentality will do to you … make you love things you used to hate.

I’ve decided tomorrow to go ahead and drive it around town. There’s an HEB in the same shopping center as the pet store and Sears I need to go to, so one trip. Surely I won’t manage to blow myself up on one short 5 mile trip. I’ll just park far from everyone else so no one tossed down a burning smoke and sets something ablaze. Just one more stupid thing to stress about. Let’s see … the brakes might fail, the power steering might go out, and the damn thing might blow up. Wheeee! You’d think it would be easy for me to hate that damn car, but it just isn’t. As far as my heart is concerned, that car is a direct representation of my dad, and that gas smell always reminds me of him (see, I told you it’s always smelled that way). Aside from his clothing and a few stacks of art work, that car is the only thing he left behind. It’s so full of memories.

I’m going to go cry some more. Not like that’s helping anything at all, but I’m just so miserable about this there’s little else I feel like doing but sitting around blubbering and sniffling.

I just filled the gas tank on the Dart. After recovering from the heart failure now associated with gasoline prices, I sat down in the driver’s seat to figure my mileage on the last tank of gas. I then proceeded to have another heart attack.

Four miles to the gallon.

This is the second time it’s come up with the same figure. Last time I thought I had probably written down the mileage wrong or something. For it to come up with the same number twice would indicate that four miles to the gallon is, sadly, accurate. I’m trying to figure out possible explanations for this, because it’s just insane.

******

After pondering all the options … I parked it on the concrete slab here at the house, because the only options that made sense were leakage or gas theft. I wouldn’t think my neighbors would steal my gasoline, but you never know. When I went out to check for leakage, I found my answer. Apparently there is a hole in my gas tank.

I think I will kill myself now. Self-emulation seems fitting.

I’m going to have to find something to stick under there and catch what’s dripping (and it is just dripping, not running out). Then I guess this weekend, Lin and I are going to have to do something about it. I’m thinking some JB Weld or other epoxy type stuff. I don’t know if we will be able to do that when it has gas in it. I guess I’ll have to give the gas to Lin. Hope he hasn’t filled up recently. I better call him and tell him not to get any gas.

You know, this is almost the final straw for the Dart. I love the car, I really do. I think I would love a new VW bug just as much. I think maybe the time has come to part with the Dart. Breaks my heart, but it’s just going to be a money pit. We either have to put a lot of money into it to bring it up to proper condition or we have to get another car. At the moment, I am leaning toward another car.

So now, even though the cat needs food and we have almost no food in the house at all for humans either, I am not going anywhere in the Dart. It’s makes me more than a little nervous to be driving a car that is leaking gasoline. What’s worse is I have no idea how long it has been doing this. That car has always had a “gassy” smell to it … ALWAYS. For all I know, it’s been doing this forever and only just now that I am not driving all that much I’m noticing. I mean, it did sit there only being driven once or twice a week for the last three months since the last time I filled the tank. When I was driving it all the time, I probably was just using the gas before it could drip out. It’s never gotten great gas mileage … like maybe 12-14 miles per gallon.

******

Forgot to hit post before I called Lin and Mom, so now I can update with the latest information. The leak is so small that the gas is evaporating from the pan I put under it at about the same rate it’s leaking out. So yeah, it’s probably took it the last two months to drain out completely. Still freaks me out to drive it, but I think tomorrow I may go ahead and go run my errands and do the shopping. Lin already filled the truck tanks, so I don’t really have anywhere to put the gas. Might as well use it. I’ve obviously been driving a gas leaking car for a while now and haven’t blown up yet, a few more trips around town probably won’t kill me. Famous last words, I am certain.

Well my day has pretty much been shot to hell. I guess I’ll feed the cat some of the nasty cat food we have in the cupboard, Lin and I will eat leftovers from last night (BBQ), and life will go on. I’m really upset though. You know I love that car. Some of you know just how attached to that car I am. I can’t imagine my life without that car in it. Just thinking about getting rid of it is making me cry. I just can’t justify spending the amount of money it would take to make it all better when a new car could be bought.

I’m going to go sit in my stinky, leaking car for a while and have a nervous breakdown.

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
–H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)

A professor of law at the University of Memphis has banned laptops from her classroom, and boy are the students upset.

Student Cory Winsett says if he must continue without his laptop, he’ll transfer to another school. Winsett says he won’t be able to keep up if he has to rely on hand-written notes, which he says are incomplete and less organized.

So how did all of us who went to college before the invention of laptop computers manage to keep up? How did we manage to learn anything? Let’s see … we took notes on paper, which we then later organized. We used class syllabuses and textbooks. We even used cassette recorders to record lectures so we could listen to them later for anything we might have missed. Amazingly, many of us were able to study and pass classes using these horribly outdated and inefficient methods.

If his handwritten notes are incomplete and disorganized, he has no one to blame but himself. He needs to learn how to take better notes. A laptop is not a requirement for achieving a higher education.

Thought I’d upload a better photo of the current WIP now that the camera is home. I’m looking forward to working on it some more tomorrow. I made a few decisions about where to go next. The sun area needs a few changes, and then I can start thinking about adding some texture of some sort. If I wasn’t so sleepy, I’d be in there working on it now.

The Earth is at the center of Robert Sungenis’ universe. Literally.

Yours too, he says.

Sungenis is a geocentrist. He contends the sun orbits the Earth instead of vice versa. He says physics and the Bible show that the vastness of space revolves around us; that we’re at the center of everything, on a planet that does not rotate.

Is it really necessary for us to leap back into the dark ages?

Meanwhile, Sungenis wants to make sure “people don’t classify geocentrists with Flat Earthers. We don’t believe that at all.”

Oh no, of course not! How could anyone believe anything as stupid as Earth being flat? Or … that the sun, the universe and everything revolves around a completely stationary Earth? You have to read the whole article to gain a true appreciation for this silliness, and do remind yourself that some 50% of Americans believe the planet to only be 5000-6000 years old … and evolution is a lie.

It’s to the point now that I can’t even blame these sorts of stupidities on the current state of education. No, this is willful ignorance all around.

The closing quote from Galileo is a keeper:

“The Bible was written to show us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go.”

Disregard the whining in the last post about Lin not getting home until late tonight. Before he could get to the job site, the guys had already disappeared. Sucks for Lin, but now we get to watch the end of the mini-series together … so it makes me happy!

Of course, this also means I probably won’t get any more painting done tonight. Oh well … it’s a good trade-off. Lin gets to come home, and he’s bringing dinner with him, so no cooking for me tonight!

I’m on my own tonight. I’ll probably be on my own for every night this week. It’s the end of the quarter at Lin’s company, and well … they have a lot of work to get done by Friday. That wouldn’t effect Lin’s life all that much except that he has to babysit some of the construction crews. Seems that as soon as they feel one drop of rain, they declare it raining and take off for the rest of the day (and night). Tonight he’ll be cracking the whip on one group that has been particularly bad about that. He says he’s not letting them leave until all the lines are up (cell phone lines on a tower, about six really thick “wires”, I guess you would call them). He’s not a happy camper. Bosses shouldn’t have to be present to keep workers working. These guys will probably not be doing any more work for them, at least not if Lin has any say (and I think he does).

I could watch the last half of the mini-series that is on SciFi, but I get so sick of having to watch things twice and sometimes three times so Lin can see the whole thing. I’m going to record it later tonight or tomorrow night and not watch it until Lin is ready to sit and watch the whole thing without getting a hundred phone calls, having to leave, or falling asleep from fatigue.

What I think I’ll do tonight is work on that painting. That’s the only thing I’ve done all day … other than take loads of naps. I didn’t plan on napping so much, but the electricity was problematic while it was storming, and then it was just out for quite a while. On a dreary day with no electricity, it gets really dark in this house, and I can’t do much of anything. I look forward to a day when we have proper lighting in every room of the house.

You can see in the crappy little web cam pic that I made some more progress today. I have one, maybe three colors to add to the sun area yet. Then I am going to have to think about where I want to go with it next. The only reason I am sitting here writing as opposed to putting down the red (next color to go on) is that I am of two minds of what I want to do with the red … should it just be part of the sun … or should that mountain become a volcano? I’m having a lot of fun with this one. I think when it’s done, I might actually frame it and hang it in the kitchen.

Sigh. The last few months I grew accustomed to Lin getting home at a normal hour every day. It seems so strange now that he might not get home until after midnight or even later. I miss him. Not too much, mind you. He has been an annoying butt head this last week. I’ve been cutting him some slack since he’s been under a lot pf pressure at work, but yeah … annoying butt head all the same. I’m looking forward to the end of this quarter myself.

Ah well … think I’ll read some news and check up on what’s happening in the rest of the world, and then go smear some more paint around for a while.