My Desultory Blog

Posted By RichC on June 29, 2013

Is that the way it is … once you own a certain make and model of car and then your eyes are automatically attracted to others that are of a similar nameplate? In the case of my recent Mercedes 300D project, its other Mercedes Benz cars … and the one below is a beauty (the brown one in the photo below isn’t have bad either!).

I stopped in at the local Ace Hardware in West Chester Ohio on Friday, I came face to face (literally) with a near perfectly restored classic 1950s Mercedes Benz 220 Cabriolet. I’m guessing it was a Cabriolet “B” model based on the license plates … and from a little web surfing, probably 1952, 53 or 54? Any expert opinions?

I looked around the hardware store to see if I could figure out who owned the car and wanted to compliment them on such a beautiful car, but my son was waiting impatiently and complained he was hungry … personally I think he is embarrassed when I approach people and start talking.

Oh well, at least I took a few photos (click for larger as they are worth it) and noticed a similar one for sale on Ebay … with a buy now price of $154,495. Hmm, I better stick with the 300D don’t you think?

Category: Automotive, Mercedes | 2 Comments »
Tags: cars, classic, mercedes, vintage

Posted By RichC on June 28, 2013

You’re invited to Cubby by LogMeIn. Give is a free try.

After eliminating Sugarsync, filling up my preferred but pricey Dropbox, and keeping Microsoft’s Skydrive and GoogleDrive for mostly shared online docs, spreadsheets and PDF files, I’ve been trying out a few other backup and synchronizing services. This week I added a couple MyCubby folders (their name for a shared folder) from a couple different harddrives on the same computer, and besides what seems like a bit slower synchronizing speeds (??), Logmein seems to be offering one of the better services. The free verizon gives 5GB of space with larger bonuses for referrals (my referral link here) and can be used to synchronize folders between users or across multiple computers. For under $50/year, the paid service for one user offers 100GB of space (half the price of Dropbox).

I’m all for unlimited back ups with all those cheaper back-up services, but the simplicity of synchronizing and having copies of files on all connected computers while remaining backed up to the cloud is my preference. If I were comfortable with both the price and the security of cloud data (see who own your files), I’d opt for once giant “cubby”  or Dropbox folder in order to backup and synchronize everything on my computer in real time.

Category: Cloud, Computer, Technology | No Comments »
Tags: backup, cloud, Computer, storage, sync, techfriday

Posted By RichC on June 28, 2013

My condolences to the Collins family on the passing of Gary Collins after his accident last week. Gary’s love of aviation (EAA Chapter 174) and his passion for Corvair conversions was an inspiration to all of us who loved antique and grass roots experimental aviation. He was enjoyable to be around and our EAA284 chapter appreciated his time and expertise a few years ago.

Category: Aviation, Obituary | No Comments »
Tags: cincinnati, collins, eaa, eaa174, eaa284, ohio

Posted By RichC on June 27, 2013

Impressive super cell photo from Nebraska (www.tonightssky.com) about a week ago. The photo is a sandwich of 2 shots about 9 seconds apart at f/22, 2.5 sec and ISO 100 according to the tech info shared on G+.

Category: Photos, Social Media, Weather | No Comments »
Tags: nebraska, photography, storm

Posted By RichC on June 26, 2013

Drivers Wayne Gerdes and Bob Winger set a new Guinness World Record for lowest fuel consumption by a non-hybrid during their 8,000-mile trek across 48 states in a 2013 Volkswagen Passat TDI Clean Diesel.

Gerdes, a practiced “hypermiler” who runs the online community CleanMPG, and his co-pilot Winger averaged nearly 78 miles per gallon during their 17-day trip ending Sunday. That’s 10 mpg better than the previous record of 67.9 mpg, and about 13 mpg better than the hybrid record of 64.6. For comparison, the EPA estimated that the average Passat TDI driver might get 43 mpg on highways. The only noted modification was a set of Continental low rolling resistance tires, according to a VW spokesman.

LINK

Category: Automotive, Diesel, Volkswagen | No Comments »
Tags: hypermiling, passat, tdi, volkswagen, vw

Posted By RichC on June 26, 2013

It has been a while since I’ve posted anything on surfing … so here’s a feel good story from down-under.

Category: Recreation, Sports, Video | No Comments »
Tags: australia, disability, ocean, surfing

Posted By RichC on June 25, 2013

When a deal seems a bit too good, there is probably a reason to be skeptical.

Now to be fair, I knew that for $25 I was not going to get my yard completely treated, but was expecting this Cincinnati area Groupon deal to be a way for Weed Man to demonstrate their professionalism and be an attempt to win over a new customer — I took the bait as a way to keep my existing lawn treatment company honest.

What I didn’t expect after phoning the “scheduler” was an immediate attempt to “upsell” the current treatment; he acted as if $25 wasn’t already purchased? I did my best to explain that I just wanted to use this service as a way to evaluate their lawn treatment and give his company a chance to look at my lawn and recommend/quote the appropriate service. Mr. Barnes patiently listened and said he would remeasure from his satellite images after telling me that to properly treat our lawn would be $390 … after applying the Groupon discount. He went on to tell me that my current company only used liquid fertilizer and that is why they would “always be less expensive.” When I pulled out my receipt and read the “dry granular” fertilizer specifics, he said they must have changed (but the company I use has been “dry” fertilizer for the 10+ years we have used them). Hmm? Nevertheless, I’ll give this telemarketer the benefit of the doubt and hope his sales tactics aren’t representative of Weed Man?

I decided to close our conversation said that “I’ll just stick with the Groupon deal” and “would like to schedule the service.” I sensed a little irritation in his voice as if I were wasting his time and he pointed out that this service didn’t include any fertilizer (even after criticizing some companies for using liquid fertilizer). I thought to myself, I thought I was suppose to call this number “to schedule an appointment?” Obviously not, because the call ended rather abruptly with Mr. Barnes telling me that “someone would call when they were available to come out, but that it would be after July 4th.” So far, just for the record, Weed Man’s customer service did not leave me warm and fuzzy.

Groupon buyers beware of the upsell and bait-and-switch from the telemarketing arms of companies pushing their products and services … and I will correct this post IF or WHEN anything improves.

Category: Advice, Local, Social Media | No Comments »
Tags: cincinnati, lawncare, ohio, weed man

Posted By RichC on June 24, 2013

Too lazy to post any original content today … besides thinking about posting more from this weekends car repairing marathon, but I’ll resist!

Category: Technology, Video | No Comments »
Tags: neverwet, rustoleum

Posted By RichC on June 23, 2013

Since I’m on a car repair roll at the moment, I’ll continue to update the condition of my 1982 Mercedes Benz 300D Turbodiesel. It has come apart this weekend primarily to set the clearances for the valves, something that has to be done regularly and manual as this is a pre-hydraulic valve adjusting kind of car. Being that the cast aluminum valve cover has to come off and all the vacuum lines and crazy network of throttle linkages needs to be disconnected, it was the best time to access the glow plugs and remove the jury-rigged repair from last week (waiting on new part). I’ll include a photo of the failed throttle rubber bushing and rusted mount (below), and after looking at it decided that I really should have realized it was going to fail, but I’m live in the “if its not broken, don’t fix it world.”

After removing the throttle linkage, vacuum lines and fuel injector return lines, the valve cover came off easily with 4 nuts. The gasket between the cast aluminum valve cover and head is so much nicer than anything I’ve replaced in the past and the new molded silicone rubber one fit perfectly. Actually, I think I could have reused the old one, as it was in great shape and could have easily been reused … oh well, $13 for a new gasket isn’t going to be the item that breaks the bank.

After a quick inspection, I set to figuring out how my new Hazet wrenches fit. Some have plenty of access, other are a bit challenging to adjust. At first look, I thought, “man these are way out of adjustment?” Then I realized, oh … the feeler gauges need to be in “mm” not in “inches.” Whoops!

For the record, the setting for the 300D is .10mm for the five intake valves and .35mm for the exhaust while the engine is cold.

After all the valves were set, the next challenge was figuring out how to squeeze my hands and wrenches in under the fuel injector lines, etc in order to remove the glow plugs and ream out any excess carbon with a Kent Bergsma handy dandy reamer tool.

Besides the tight access to the glow plugs, everything was easy to do … just not as speedy as I thought … sort of glad I only had 5 of them to replace.

Category: Automotive, Diesel, Mercedes | 1 Comment »
Tags: 300d, maintenance, mercedes, repairs, turbodiesel

Posted By RichC on June 22, 2013

Besides spending the day at home catching up on pool cleaning and some minor yard work, I spent the day in the garage working on the Mercedes 300D’s valve adjustment and glow plugs (more on this tomorrow). The more obvious update was installing new Bosch headlight doors I found on Ebay. They look just like new … well they are [grin].

Category: Automotive, Diesel, Mercedes | No Comments »
Tags: 300d, mercedes, turbodiesel