Text-only update. River and Aimee (my computer)

Ok, short text only update here, I am updating to Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal (I would do this only because it's got Narwhal in the name, but since it's the next upgrade for Ubuntu, which is my Operating System, I'm upgrading for more reasons than that. I'm also kind of hoping that Ubuntu names it's next version Placid Platypus or Titillating Tiger (because Platypii are awesome and any excuse to use Titillating is worth it). Also, good news for my sanity and wallet, River is up for some under-warranty repairs, MAJOR under-warranty repairs. She gets a new headgasket, Steering arm, and A/C Condenser all for free, so my pitifully slow and painfully inefficient (9ish mpg right now) Truck gets some new life in better hands than mine. They will be fixing my vaccum leak while they are in there and will be telling me what other repairs can get done! Awesome.

Roadside Emergency Box and some future plans on where I'm going with it

Ok, oddly as promised, here is the Pelican case I'm using as a Roadside Emergency Box. I'll do my best to name everything in it at the end. I'm also looking to sticker it up so if anyone wants to donate towards my cause you are more than welcome to. On to the pictures!

 Here is the case as it sits. I've gone over the stickers already

River is alive! skid plate mounted!

Short and sweet, here is what she looks like (for now)

Reassembly of River and some painting!

So I got River (My Truck) put back together with the exception of the distributor Oil Seal which I am getting tomorrow. After I get that Oil Seal I can fill her up with oil and antifreeze, put the spark plugs back in, and fire her up! After 6 weeks of being without a vehicle I'm ready to be driving her again even though it is a piece of crap. After I found out I couldn't get the part my girlfriend Cat and myself started painting up my skid plate to be LOUD. We started with a bright yellow base then used almost 2 rolls of painters tape to tape off the designs.

Here is the skid plate once painted yellow. It could be better but its going

I hate timing gears...

I really do. I have spent this week trying to get my timing gear off of my FwhoreRunner (4Runner) to no avail, I finally got it off this morning and I have been working on it since Monday. It ended up that there was so much rust it was basically welded onto the crankshaft.

The cell phone pictures suck but it gives you a general idea,

Dave Ramsey and SmartyPig

So I have been watching the Dave Ramsey videos while going through his class and have just come across a site called SmartyPig, The site is hosted by BBVA Compass (Compass bank) and is centered on not going in to debt. This is very interesting to me because of the Dave Ramsey series and the fact that they actually seem to want people not to go into debt, they have an app for iPod/iPhone, they are making an app for Android, you can link it to sites like mint or yodlee for money management, link to a facebook page or twitter feed to show people what you are trying to save for and how you are doing in your saving. overall I think it is a good approach to banking and I do want to try it, now because I have no job who wants to donate money so that I can try it?

A few repairs to River and some planning for a poker night!

I finally decided to fix my corner light which has been flopping around on the grille since I bought her... Come to find out that the core support has been TWISTED by about 15-20 degrees, fun...

All better now, shouldn't be much of a problem anymore and because

USB Flash Drive Zippo and custom case coloring

After reading this on instructables I decided to give it a try myself. I think it turned out pretty well... I diddn't take any pictures this time around while I was working on it because I was fully concentrating on getting it to fit. I basically followed the instructions word for word from the instructables and it worked very well. The case color was achieved by using a wire wheel to get all the paint (the paint on the zippo was TOUGH to get off!) off then heating it to red-hot with a blowtorch and dipping it in used motor oil to cool it off. The pattern is unique to how the blowtorch was held but I really like it. Of course there are pictures of the finished product.

Camera Phone Macro Lens DIY + Macro Photography

After reading lifehacker's post here on using a DVD lens as a macro lens for a cellphone, I decided to try it for myself, needless to say I am very impressed. The photos turned out very well for a camera phone. I ended up putting a nice scratch down both sides of the lens in my haste to get it out so I ended up using a lens from an old PS2 I had lying around, I don't have pictures of that because I sliced my hand pretty good trying to open the case up. Anyways, on to the photos:

Here are the tools I used for disassembly: 1 Phillips Head Screwdriver, One Flat

EDC + Zippo Holster

So I got some better pictures of my EDC and I also got a hold of this SWEET Zippo Holster that appears pretty old... anyways... enough of my random babbling and onto the pics.

More Moleskine Art!

More Skine Art!

DIY Tool Roll from Canvas Bag

Using one of those military duffel bags you can get (sorry, I forgot to take a picture before I cut it up...) I decided to make a tool roll to stick an emergency tool kit in for my truck. I cut the seams and took the large center section with the handles. I folded the cut ends towards the middle and got to sewing.