Cardio in Waycross
33 minutes w/ warmup and cooldown
2.16 miles
All walks were at 3.5
4 2 minute runs: 5, 5.2, 5.5, 5.8
5 one minute incline walk/run:
4.0 @ 2%
4.2 @ 2.5 %
4.4 @ 3.5%
4.6 @ 4.0%
5.0 @ 4.5%
walk, run, walk, incline... in between walks were either 1 or two minutes. Not a bad cardio workout.
Freakonomics
An interesting read but it would do well to advise its readers to heed its own warning: never trust the experts. While some of the ideas put forth by Dubner and Levitt are neat, it is far from the hidden side of everything. And some of their conclusions suffer from the same things that plague anyone who deals with data and statistics. Namely, the propensity for skewing the results, or in this case, the methods, to favorable directions.
The legalization of abortion vs. crime issue is a fascinating idea, but fails for one glaring reason. While the writers have tons of data about crime and police infrastructures, they have no data at all suprting the abortion side. It is enough for Levitt to say that the women who would have had abortions during the time probably would have kids that would have grown up to be criminals. Half of the equation is based on a supposition, but that is never spelled out. We are expected to just go, "Aha! Genius at work!" and go on our merry way.
Then there is the economics of drug dealing. Truly a unique look into a world most of us will never know, but they use a single group of drug dealers (all be it a large group) to be the basis for all drug dealers. They might even be right, but to insinuate that the many run the same as the one is flawed, particulalry when dealing with the specifics of a drug gang led by a college graduate. One would think that is a rare happenstance. Could be, but how do we know? Levitt and Dubner never tell us if this is a common occurance or is unique to their sample.
Levitt has a clever way of looking at things, but most of them are useful only to a niche group of people. The most widely applicable article deals with real estate agents, and to use the information he provides could be great or it could be trouble, depending on the individual. It puts it in people's minds that real estate agents, all of them, are out for themselves and the client is secondary. A dangerous implication. This section also goes on forever, particularly with the info on the KKK. This was eye opening, but it goes to show an issue with the book. The writer's tend to just keep talking. The articles at the back of the book do a much better job of getting to the point and still delivering the information with an economy of words.
Freakonomics is best understood as a lesson in trying to look at all information through as many lenses as possible. As Timothy Leary said, "Think for yourself. Question authority." Experts and subject authorities abound in our culture and I have to continually remind myself to not just accept what I am hearing as fact. Most of the time, facts are bent to make the point. Levitt and Dubner point this fact out, but fail to apply the concept to themselves. C+: 84
Friday, September 3, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Hooky
Weighed in at 246.5 again for the fourth week in a row. Decided to hold off on the gym. Mentally frazzled from constant workouts. Come Wednesday I am always shot out. Feel like a pansy, but needed a break. Back at it tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Pete's Power Smoothie
Chocolate Strawberry
3-4 Whole Fresh Frozen or Frozen Strawberries
12 0z Kroger Carbmaster Yogurt... Strawberry
1 scoop Body Fortress Whey Protein... Chocolate Flavor
1 Scoop Slim Fast High Protein... Chocolate
16 oz Skim Milk
Put in a blender. Ice Crush for 15 seconds, Whip for 15 seconds
Protein: 61 grams
Sugars: 37 grams... mostly from milk and berries
Fat: 5 grams
3-4 Whole Fresh Frozen or Frozen Strawberries
12 0z Kroger Carbmaster Yogurt... Strawberry
1 scoop Body Fortress Whey Protein... Chocolate Flavor
1 Scoop Slim Fast High Protein... Chocolate
16 oz Skim Milk
Put in a blender. Ice Crush for 15 seconds, Whip for 15 seconds
Protein: 61 grams
Sugars: 37 grams... mostly from milk and berries
Fat: 5 grams
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Further Adventures of Proto-Mechanic
The Place: My Garage and Surrounding Yard
The Job: The Briggs and Stratton Mower Engine
Assumed Time: One Never Can Know with the F_____g Lawnmower
So, after all the rigamarole I finally weedeated (weedate, weediateded?) the yard pretty well. Hop on the mower to right the wrongs of an overgrown yard and, five minutes in, she craps out and will not start back up. "No problem," thinks Proto-Mechanic, "it's prolly a clogged carburetor... again." Been there done that. Its getting late, so I figure I will do it Wednesday, first day off from the gym. Fifteen minutes, two hours, I'll have it licked.
Flash forward to Wednesday. With the practiced hands of a barely functioning monkey I remove the carburetor, blow that sucker out with some compressed air, reattach the offending part and volia... the mower scoffs at me. F______G MOWER!
This of course neccesitates a call. I place that call to Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round Great Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry, who suggests carburetor cleaner instead. Makes sense to me. So, I go to the wall of solvents at Advanced Auto Parts (no theme music, just happens to be on the way to pick up Gage) and after staring at the wall for five minutes debating wether to spend 8 bucks on Sea-Foam cleaner, I find the Carb Cleaner on the bottom shelf for a buck and ninety nine. Back to the house, remove the carburetor with the steady hands of an alcoholic surgeon, blow that sucker out, wipe excess carb cleaner from my glasses and face, reattach the offending part and voila... the mower laughs at me in a choking, not-gonna-start for you kinda way. F______g Mower.
Move it on up to the Eastside of Saturday. Off comes the carburetor pretty easily, familiarity breeds ability AND contempt. Everything looks right. Put it back on and the carburetor is flooding the engine. I mean pouring gas out of every orifice. Does not seem like that is a good thing. Off comes the carburetor. I do it with my eyes closed. Not true, but it is getting to be old hat (CONTEMPT!!!) by now. Put it back on just as easily. No gas pouring out. Turn the key. Son of a bitch.
Out comes the phone and... the answer. Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round Great Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry asks if there was gas in the bowl. I say there was. Then he says "Well, if there is a gas in the bowl, it has to be something blocking the standpipe". He then goes to the gym. I, of course, have a revelation thanks to his statement. I recall the switch-thingy on the bottom of the bowl from my last encounter with the carburetor. The electronic do0-hicky has a lil' piston on it that shuts the standpipe off from gas flow when the key is in the "off" position. when the key is turned to "on". The piston descends and allows gas to flow. "What if," Proto-Mechanic postulates, "the thingamabob is broke?"
So, like some magus conjuring the spirits, I whip the carburator off, take of the... the... thing, hook it up to the electronics, turn the key and nothing. Actually, this is awesome. With some help from Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round Great Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry, I use my new Test Light ($4.99 from Autozone... duh-duh-dunta-dun-da... Autozone) to make sure that the wiring harness works, which it does (so does the solenoid- more's the pity, but the starter will be for another day), making my diagnosis complete. Awesome.
Off to town, two towns, Waycross and Blackshear. Saturday afternoon in the south. Makes sense to me that not a lawnmower shop in the are is open. I hit Lowes, Tractor Supply, O'Reilly's and Autozone... Duh-duh-dunta-duna-da... Autozone to no avail. Will have to wait until Monday.
Monday roles around and I head to the 5 Points Lawnmower Center in Blackshear:
Guy at the counter: "What can I do for you today?"
Me: "I'm on a wild goose chase, looking for a goose." I show him the chochki.
Guy: "Want me to tell you the cheap and easy thing to do?"
Me: Do I? "Yes."
Guy: "Take a pair of clippers and clip the little piston off."
Me: Looking dubiously.
Guy: "See this is a (insert proper terms that sounded latin to me). It keeps the mower from backfiring. Doesn't even do a very good job at that.
Me: "I know what you mean." Sort of.
Guy: "Yeah, they just put that on there to keep you from blowing off your muffler. It's no big deal."
Me: "Let's back up to the part where I blow off my muffler."
Guy: "A rare case unless you get too much gas and air in the muffler, turn the key and 'boom'. but you could replace this (latin) for 45 of 60 bucks."
Me: My soul bulges at the idea of dropping 50 bucks on a lil' ol' nothing part. "Well, I'll try the cheap and easy route."
Run by the house, throw the carburetor together like a Master of Sport Mechanic, clip the piston off the latin thing and attach it like an artificial heart. Turn the key...
It was a that point I started to cry.
I go back to work, wondering if I knocked the standpipe off the carb at some point. Run home after work, turn the key... EUREKA!!! She's running. I let her run a few minutes, shut it off throw all the parts back on with a new air filtter assembly ($14.95 from the ...snicker... Do-It Center) and go to start it back up again. COME ON!!!
So, I go to the gym.
After the gym, I try again. BOO-ya. She starts but is running like poop. I check the throttle, it is stuck on low. Turn it a little... ah-yeah, now we are cooking with fatty grease, baby! I proceed to mow. I mow the sides and little back yard and sweep it al up. Pull partway into the garage and throttle down, shut the mower off. Go to start it agin, just to make sure...
and I blow my muffler off.
Allright so it did not physically come off but
1) I saw flames
2) there was a short, high pitched retort like a gunshot, a sound like it came from the depths of outer space to break my mind and then
3) the ringing silence
4) I said something untowards, but could not hear it or remember what I thought because my brain was broken... like a sucker punch from the Briggs and Stratton Gods: "Screw with our parts, eh, Proto-Mechanic! Now suffer the consequences!!!"
5) There was smoke coming from the muffler.
I felt like the kid from A Christmas Story: "I shot my eye out."
"I blew up my muffler."
So, it only took the better part of three days and as long as I can handle ear-rattling, brain damaging, Engine God revengencers in the form of sharp retorts from the center of space, I should be good to go. Good news is that the muffler is up front so, when I really do blow the thing off, the shrapnel should avoid me.
Of course, the latin thingy was supposed to do a piss poor job of avoiding back fires, so it was not that important. Ya'll see how that worked out. Gonna head to a surpless store and see about a flak jacket, just to be safe.
Total Time: about 8 hours
The Job: The Briggs and Stratton Mower Engine
Assumed Time: One Never Can Know with the F_____g Lawnmower
So, after all the rigamarole I finally weedeated (weedate, weediateded?) the yard pretty well. Hop on the mower to right the wrongs of an overgrown yard and, five minutes in, she craps out and will not start back up. "No problem," thinks Proto-Mechanic, "it's prolly a clogged carburetor... again." Been there done that. Its getting late, so I figure I will do it Wednesday, first day off from the gym. Fifteen minutes, two hours, I'll have it licked.
Flash forward to Wednesday. With the practiced hands of a barely functioning monkey I remove the carburetor, blow that sucker out with some compressed air, reattach the offending part and volia... the mower scoffs at me. F______G MOWER!
This of course neccesitates a call. I place that call to Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round Great Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry, who suggests carburetor cleaner instead. Makes sense to me. So, I go to the wall of solvents at Advanced Auto Parts (no theme music, just happens to be on the way to pick up Gage) and after staring at the wall for five minutes debating wether to spend 8 bucks on Sea-Foam cleaner, I find the Carb Cleaner on the bottom shelf for a buck and ninety nine. Back to the house, remove the carburetor with the steady hands of an alcoholic surgeon, blow that sucker out, wipe excess carb cleaner from my glasses and face, reattach the offending part and voila... the mower laughs at me in a choking, not-gonna-start for you kinda way. F______g Mower.
Move it on up to the Eastside of Saturday. Off comes the carburetor pretty easily, familiarity breeds ability AND contempt. Everything looks right. Put it back on and the carburetor is flooding the engine. I mean pouring gas out of every orifice. Does not seem like that is a good thing. Off comes the carburetor. I do it with my eyes closed. Not true, but it is getting to be old hat (CONTEMPT!!!) by now. Put it back on just as easily. No gas pouring out. Turn the key. Son of a bitch.
Out comes the phone and... the answer. Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round Great Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry asks if there was gas in the bowl. I say there was. Then he says "Well, if there is a gas in the bowl, it has to be something blocking the standpipe". He then goes to the gym. I, of course, have a revelation thanks to his statement. I recall the switch-thingy on the bottom of the bowl from my last encounter with the carburetor. The electronic do0-hicky has a lil' piston on it that shuts the standpipe off from gas flow when the key is in the "off" position. when the key is turned to "on". The piston descends and allows gas to flow. "What if," Proto-Mechanic postulates, "the thingamabob is broke?"
So, like some magus conjuring the spirits, I whip the carburator off, take of the... the... thing, hook it up to the electronics, turn the key and nothing. Actually, this is awesome. With some help from Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round Great Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry, I use my new Test Light ($4.99 from Autozone... duh-duh-dunta-dun-da... Autozone) to make sure that the wiring harness works, which it does (so does the solenoid- more's the pity, but the starter will be for another day), making my diagnosis complete. Awesome.
Off to town, two towns, Waycross and Blackshear. Saturday afternoon in the south. Makes sense to me that not a lawnmower shop in the are is open. I hit Lowes, Tractor Supply, O'Reilly's and Autozone... Duh-duh-dunta-duna-da... Autozone to no avail. Will have to wait until Monday.
Monday roles around and I head to the 5 Points Lawnmower Center in Blackshear:
Guy at the counter: "What can I do for you today?"
Me: "I'm on a wild goose chase, looking for a goose." I show him the chochki.
Guy: "Want me to tell you the cheap and easy thing to do?"
Me: Do I? "Yes."
Guy: "Take a pair of clippers and clip the little piston off."
Me: Looking dubiously.
Guy: "See this is a (insert proper terms that sounded latin to me). It keeps the mower from backfiring. Doesn't even do a very good job at that.
Me: "I know what you mean." Sort of.
Guy: "Yeah, they just put that on there to keep you from blowing off your muffler. It's no big deal."
Me: "Let's back up to the part where I blow off my muffler."
Guy: "A rare case unless you get too much gas and air in the muffler, turn the key and 'boom'. but you could replace this (latin) for 45 of 60 bucks."
Me: My soul bulges at the idea of dropping 50 bucks on a lil' ol' nothing part. "Well, I'll try the cheap and easy route."
Run by the house, throw the carburetor together like a Master of Sport Mechanic, clip the piston off the latin thing and attach it like an artificial heart. Turn the key...
It was a that point I started to cry.
I go back to work, wondering if I knocked the standpipe off the carb at some point. Run home after work, turn the key... EUREKA!!! She's running. I let her run a few minutes, shut it off throw all the parts back on with a new air filtter assembly ($14.95 from the ...snicker... Do-It Center) and go to start it back up again. COME ON!!!
So, I go to the gym.
After the gym, I try again. BOO-ya. She starts but is running like poop. I check the throttle, it is stuck on low. Turn it a little... ah-yeah, now we are cooking with fatty grease, baby! I proceed to mow. I mow the sides and little back yard and sweep it al up. Pull partway into the garage and throttle down, shut the mower off. Go to start it agin, just to make sure...
and I blow my muffler off.
Allright so it did not physically come off but
1) I saw flames
2) there was a short, high pitched retort like a gunshot, a sound like it came from the depths of outer space to break my mind and then
3) the ringing silence
4) I said something untowards, but could not hear it or remember what I thought because my brain was broken... like a sucker punch from the Briggs and Stratton Gods: "Screw with our parts, eh, Proto-Mechanic! Now suffer the consequences!!!"
5) There was smoke coming from the muffler.
I felt like the kid from A Christmas Story: "I shot my eye out."
"I blew up my muffler."
So, it only took the better part of three days and as long as I can handle ear-rattling, brain damaging, Engine God revengencers in the form of sharp retorts from the center of space, I should be good to go. Good news is that the muffler is up front so, when I really do blow the thing off, the shrapnel should avoid me.
Of course, the latin thingy was supposed to do a piss poor job of avoiding back fires, so it was not that important. Ya'll see how that worked out. Gonna head to a surpless store and see about a flak jacket, just to be safe.
Total Time: about 8 hours
Friday, August 6, 2010
Ender's Game
Just finished the Orson Scott Card's first novel. With great expectations come great disappointments. I had heard nothing but good about the book, and while it does a great job of building tension up unto the end, it suffers from a one major flaw. Unlike Lord of the Flies, I never believed that I was dealing with children. Even though they were supposed to be uber-smart, they were all apparently uber-mature as well. It never played well that Ender was a eleven at the time of his great victory. The great victory was a cop-out as well. A rehash of another part of the book that somehow works out in the end. Peter and Valentine also change the whole course of world events at 13 and 16... it just begins to get old that these kids are so young and can handle it all so maturely.
It never makes sense how the Formics (ridiculously called buggers throughout the WHOLE novel) can touch Enders mind but cannot learn how to beat him, even with the simple strategy he used in the end, which is never made exactly clear as to how he does it, it just works. Also, the ansibel that can communicate faster than time, there seems to be a bit of a space/time issue with how it works when put with the fact that the ships in the distance are traveling at near light speed. The age difference between Peter and his siblings is understood, but the communication factor seems too handy.
The novel is saved by the bittersweet and emotionally charged prologue: The Speaker for the Dead. A beautiful end to a dissapointing novel, though I did like how Ender becomes an outcast after his great victory. But the epilogue stands alone as the best part of the novel.
Ender's Game: 80... C
It never makes sense how the Formics (ridiculously called buggers throughout the WHOLE novel) can touch Enders mind but cannot learn how to beat him, even with the simple strategy he used in the end, which is never made exactly clear as to how he does it, it just works. Also, the ansibel that can communicate faster than time, there seems to be a bit of a space/time issue with how it works when put with the fact that the ships in the distance are traveling at near light speed. The age difference between Peter and his siblings is understood, but the communication factor seems too handy.
The novel is saved by the bittersweet and emotionally charged prologue: The Speaker for the Dead. A beautiful end to a dissapointing novel, though I did like how Ender becomes an outcast after his great victory. But the epilogue stands alone as the best part of the novel.
Ender's Game: 80... C
Saturday, July 24, 2010
The Hurt Locker
Not what I was expecting. The pace was slow, but it was a strong character piece about the protagonist Sgt. James. Jeremy Renner did a wonderful job. Came across as relaxed and controlled in every scene. Made the scenes where he lost control all the more powerful. Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty were solid in supporting roles. Had some odd shots that did not seem to fit. Almost, but not quite, captured the alienness of being in danger in a foreign land every day. Wound up a little disjointed. Glad it did not end how I thought it was going to end. Decent movie, but not best picture quality. B--
Thursday, July 22, 2010
The Further Adventures of Proto-Mechanic
The Place: Valdosta
The Vehicle: 1989 Cutlass Cierra
The Job: Automatic Belt Tensioner Assembly
Assumed time: 3 hours
So, we get to Valdoata about 5 o'clock. Sure enough, the belt tensioner is shot. I quickly remove the pulley and notice that there is a single bolt running through the actual tensioner. I think, "I get me a Torx head bit and this here is a cinch."
New Assumed time: 35 minutes.
Advanced Auto on Ashley does not have the part, but they do pull up a picture. There seems to be a suspiciously large bracket attached to the tensioner. That does not bode well. Head off to the AutoZone... duna-dunta-dun-ta...AutoZone. They have the tensioner and sure enough there is a bracket with six holes for bolts. Awesome.
Back at the car, I cannot break the bolts off. I have a breaker bar, but the only 13mm socket I have is a 1/4. I have no adapter to go 1/2 to 1/4. Also, the bracket appears to have three of its bolts hidden behind the power steering pulley. A quick call to Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round-Great-Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry. Seems you have to pull one of these suckers off with a "Power Steering Pulley Puller." To Advanced Auto we go. No such luck, they are out. Back we go to AutoZone...duna-dunta-dun-ta... Autozone. I get a small set of mm sockets (13mm-18mm: $9.99) and rent the puller.
Back at the car the puller will not fit. The puller bolt is 4 inches long, my clearance is 3 inches. What to do? Call Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round-Great-Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry. He says "the bolts have to come out somehow, they cannot expect you to break down the engine to remove the tensioner. " I stumble upon the somehow: the pulley has holes in it you can place a deepwell socket into. Good news. Bad news is these bolts are 10mm and I have no 10mm deepwell socket.
Back we head to Autozone... duna-dunta-dun-ta... Autozone to return the puller and get a small set of mm sockets (8mm-13mm: free because they would not listen to what I was telling them).
On the way back to the car I tell the wife and boy that I got a bad feeling about the last bolt, the underbolt, the one out of the way. "It's gonna be a F_____," I tell them.
Back at the car, One, Two big bolts come out easy, Three is easy. The Pulley bolts are next: Top one comes out. Kind of a pain because you have to use the deepwell until the space to work is too small then you go back to regular socket, THEN you twist it out with your fingers, hoping you do not drop it while you squeeze it aginst the pulley and spin the pulley to retrieve the bolt where you have it squeezzed against the pulley. Middle bolt begins to break AND all the antifreeze in the block come a'pourin' out. I figure as long as I do not see oil, we are okay. It's just antifreeze we are spilling all over this church's parking lot. Bottom bolt proves Proto-Mechanic to be a psychic. It indeed is a F______. And it will prove to be a F_____ again in a few minutes. But, after a struggle with the F_____ bolt, the plate is off and the engine is devoid of antifreeze.
A note: the suspiciously large bracket/plate attached to the belt tensioner also acts as a bracket for the power steering pump. Awesome. So while you put the bracket back on, you have to hold the power steering pump up in order to get the bolts in there.
The big three bolts go back on easily, the Pulley bolts are a bit harder, but once the Top one is in, the Middle goes in easily. Of course, that leaves up with the Bottom bolt, you remember, the F_____ bolt. I come up with an ingenious plan to hold the bolt in the socket using 1) a piece of paper and 2) my ingenuity, and then get the F______ bolt in by 1) encouragement from Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round-Great Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry who says that "you just fiddle with it until it kind of pops in there" and 2) fiddling with it until it just popped in there. After three minutes of actual bolt tightening and twenty minutes of phantom bolt tightening ("I'm on something. I think. But it ain't tightening. Wait. That's absolutely nothing. I don't understand that S___!) the Belt tensioner bracket that bolts the Belt Tensioner and the Power Steering Pump to the block and holds in all the antifreeze is attached. Logan routes the belt three times wrong, fouth time charmingly and we are set for a test.
Car starts and nothing is leaking. Power steering is squeeling but MOSMaARGG,MPML Terry says he needs a new belt and the sound might just go away, but get the belt anyway. We eat at subway and Logan makes his way home. We drive another hour and fifteen to the house. Another Do-It-Yourself mechanicing job stumbled through. Though this time, I kept my temper pretty well.
Total Actual time: 4 hours with trips.
The Vehicle: 1989 Cutlass Cierra
The Job: Automatic Belt Tensioner Assembly
Assumed time: 3 hours
So, we get to Valdoata about 5 o'clock. Sure enough, the belt tensioner is shot. I quickly remove the pulley and notice that there is a single bolt running through the actual tensioner. I think, "I get me a Torx head bit and this here is a cinch."
New Assumed time: 35 minutes.
Advanced Auto on Ashley does not have the part, but they do pull up a picture. There seems to be a suspiciously large bracket attached to the tensioner. That does not bode well. Head off to the AutoZone... duna-dunta-dun-ta...AutoZone. They have the tensioner and sure enough there is a bracket with six holes for bolts. Awesome.
Back at the car, I cannot break the bolts off. I have a breaker bar, but the only 13mm socket I have is a 1/4. I have no adapter to go 1/2 to 1/4. Also, the bracket appears to have three of its bolts hidden behind the power steering pulley. A quick call to Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round-Great-Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry. Seems you have to pull one of these suckers off with a "Power Steering Pulley Puller." To Advanced Auto we go. No such luck, they are out. Back we go to AutoZone...duna-dunta-dun-ta... Autozone. I get a small set of mm sockets (13mm-18mm: $9.99) and rent the puller.
Back at the car the puller will not fit. The puller bolt is 4 inches long, my clearance is 3 inches. What to do? Call Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round-Great-Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry. He says "the bolts have to come out somehow, they cannot expect you to break down the engine to remove the tensioner. " I stumble upon the somehow: the pulley has holes in it you can place a deepwell socket into. Good news. Bad news is these bolts are 10mm and I have no 10mm deepwell socket.
Back we head to Autozone... duna-dunta-dun-ta... Autozone to return the puller and get a small set of mm sockets (8mm-13mm: free because they would not listen to what I was telling them).
On the way back to the car I tell the wife and boy that I got a bad feeling about the last bolt, the underbolt, the one out of the way. "It's gonna be a F_____," I tell them.
Back at the car, One, Two big bolts come out easy, Three is easy. The Pulley bolts are next: Top one comes out. Kind of a pain because you have to use the deepwell until the space to work is too small then you go back to regular socket, THEN you twist it out with your fingers, hoping you do not drop it while you squeeze it aginst the pulley and spin the pulley to retrieve the bolt where you have it squeezzed against the pulley. Middle bolt begins to break AND all the antifreeze in the block come a'pourin' out. I figure as long as I do not see oil, we are okay. It's just antifreeze we are spilling all over this church's parking lot. Bottom bolt proves Proto-Mechanic to be a psychic. It indeed is a F______. And it will prove to be a F_____ again in a few minutes. But, after a struggle with the F_____ bolt, the plate is off and the engine is devoid of antifreeze.
A note: the suspiciously large bracket/plate attached to the belt tensioner also acts as a bracket for the power steering pump. Awesome. So while you put the bracket back on, you have to hold the power steering pump up in order to get the bolts in there.
The big three bolts go back on easily, the Pulley bolts are a bit harder, but once the Top one is in, the Middle goes in easily. Of course, that leaves up with the Bottom bolt, you remember, the F_____ bolt. I come up with an ingenious plan to hold the bolt in the socket using 1) a piece of paper and 2) my ingenuity, and then get the F______ bolt in by 1) encouragement from Master of Sport Mechanic and All-Round-Great Guy, My Personal Mechanicing Lifeline Terry who says that "you just fiddle with it until it kind of pops in there" and 2) fiddling with it until it just popped in there. After three minutes of actual bolt tightening and twenty minutes of phantom bolt tightening ("I'm on something. I think. But it ain't tightening. Wait. That's absolutely nothing. I don't understand that S___!) the Belt tensioner bracket that bolts the Belt Tensioner and the Power Steering Pump to the block and holds in all the antifreeze is attached. Logan routes the belt three times wrong, fouth time charmingly and we are set for a test.
Car starts and nothing is leaking. Power steering is squeeling but MOSMaARGG,MPML Terry says he needs a new belt and the sound might just go away, but get the belt anyway. We eat at subway and Logan makes his way home. We drive another hour and fifteen to the house. Another Do-It-Yourself mechanicing job stumbled through. Though this time, I kept my temper pretty well.
Total Actual time: 4 hours with trips.
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