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May. 29th, 2022 10:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psipsyCurrent car task: Wrestling with Ai's driver-side axle. I put her up on the lift for a routine oil change, and found one of the boots had split open and was flinging grease everywhere. Just like what happened about 18 months ago with the passenger side. The worst part about getting it all apart wasn't the axle nut; an impact wrench spinning a big fat socket made quick work of that in seconds. No, the worst part was the inboard axle end that was supposed to pop out, wouldn't. I spent more time trying to do that than the rest of the disassembly combined. Trying to do this while under the car was not helpful. But I'm clever and I'll have this figured out.
Meanwhile, I've started to put together some model kits of buildings for the layout or a separate diorama, the "liminal space in HO scale". You know how sometimes you'll be on a long car trip and there's nothing for miles then suddenly there's an exit that has just about everything even though it's in the middle of nowhere, and then it's back to miles of nothing in any direction? Yeah, I'm kinda going for that. I found one kit that looks like an old Howard Johnson's. Years ago, Tyco did make a similar kit that did have HJ branding on it, but those are hard/expensive to find. (If I stumble across one for a decent price I'm getting it.) The kit I found looks like it was made in the 60s or 70s and it shows: The stickers were cracking and crumbling. Oh well. I got the main structure put together. The cracks in the stickers make it look like it closed quite a long time ago, and honestly I am fine with that aesthetic.
Despite the recent increase in gas prices, I've decided that my road trip is still on. I've calculated the upper limit of cost and it's staying within reason. My logic is that the opportunity of being able to do this outweighs any extra cost. If I wait for gas prices to go back down, that window of opportunity will almost certainly close. It's a window that I can probably open back up if I tried but y'know, I've waited a long time for being able to go on a trip of this scale. It's a vacation, not something I'll be doing all the time. That's how vacations work.
Also, more anime reviews are up.
http://www.cardboardshrine.com/articles/anime-reviews/13/2022a-anime-reviews
Meanwhile, I've started to put together some model kits of buildings for the layout or a separate diorama, the "liminal space in HO scale". You know how sometimes you'll be on a long car trip and there's nothing for miles then suddenly there's an exit that has just about everything even though it's in the middle of nowhere, and then it's back to miles of nothing in any direction? Yeah, I'm kinda going for that. I found one kit that looks like an old Howard Johnson's. Years ago, Tyco did make a similar kit that did have HJ branding on it, but those are hard/expensive to find. (If I stumble across one for a decent price I'm getting it.) The kit I found looks like it was made in the 60s or 70s and it shows: The stickers were cracking and crumbling. Oh well. I got the main structure put together. The cracks in the stickers make it look like it closed quite a long time ago, and honestly I am fine with that aesthetic.
Despite the recent increase in gas prices, I've decided that my road trip is still on. I've calculated the upper limit of cost and it's staying within reason. My logic is that the opportunity of being able to do this outweighs any extra cost. If I wait for gas prices to go back down, that window of opportunity will almost certainly close. It's a window that I can probably open back up if I tried but y'know, I've waited a long time for being able to go on a trip of this scale. It's a vacation, not something I'll be doing all the time. That's how vacations work.
Also, more anime reviews are up.
http://www.cardboardshrine.com/articles/anime-reviews/13/2022a-anime-reviews
