The difference

After our hearbreaking trip thru Philadelphia, we visited the west suburbs where Ji would work and where her friends live. Figuratively speaking, the difference between those suburbs and the city is like night-and-day. Houses, still old and cute, are well maintained, yards taken care of, clean, inviting and warm. A dream place to live in.

I have lived in many countries, cultures that had different financial backgrounds and I made one observation. The surroundings of the place is a reflection of the CULTURE people represent, not their financial means, race, or nationality. There are people in the sub-tropics that do not have running water, or electricity, and their houses are clean, taken care of and inviting. There are reed-thatched houses in rural Japan that are radiant, neat and cozy.

The contrast between Philly and its suburbs is more than the black-and-white. True, you will be hard press to find a white folk in the city, outside downtown, or vice-versa for the suburbs. Let's not fall for an easy-out racial explanation. Excuses are not helping anybody.

Both Philly and burbs have beautifully build houses, but each represents different cultures. Cultures of individuals that inhibit them. Be it rich, poor, black, white, or white-trash, or whoever else it is, even the poorest can be afford to clean up their yard, clean the windows and once in a long while paint the house trims. It is really a question of personal pride in a place you live in.

For all I care those people may choose to live in the caves, but for God-sake, sweep up the cave entrance, don't make it a pig-pan. Not everyone wants to live with the pigs.

Philadelphia

We went to East Coast for a Thankgiving weekend to see the surroundings of Philadelphia, or more precisely Bala, the planned work-place of Ji.

Philadelphia is an old town with a lot of picturesque houses, they are cute and colorful and in total disrepair. Driving thru the city is heart-breaking, houses that in Chicago would cost $300K and up, are neglected, broken-down, turned into the neighborhoods of poverty. Seems like nobody cares where they live and how they live. No personal pride. I hope that something can save it, but it will not be soon. People that live in there have to get some pride in their neighborhoods. It may take more than a generation of genuine effort. I heard that taxes in the city are higher, not surprising considering the amount of poverty they need to support. How ironic, the poverty costs more to support! Philadelphia is on the spiral downward.

Internship.

I am excited, I got an internship in a large repair shop/dealership. Finally, I will be able to do some hand-on for real. For now I will start couple times a week, on Saturdays for one.

Dealership internship?

I got an email from one dealership I visited a few weeks back.
They would be interested in having me for internship. I think I will jump on it. A hand-on practice and the resume fact that I have been working in the dealership will help me a lot. The problem is time. I still have Saturdays open, which is good, on Mondays and Wednesdays we will see. Of course I will have engine rebuild practice, too.

Supra is back together.

I finished putting my Supra together last Thursday night, some friends from school helped me to set the ignition right because it was off couple of degrees. So far I drove her for 15 miles and she seems to be holding together. Nothing leaking that I can see. Temperature is staying right. The engine light is on, but that is to be expected after removal of EGR. Let's hope for the best. The clutch replacement is next.

Late night work

I was preparing JavaDocs for the project I am working on. Time to go sleep. At least that's what my friend from Europe pointed out.

Life truism..

"Despite your best efforts, you cannot read in a bathtub forever, the hunger will eventually drive you out"

yet another of the great truisms discovered empirically by Uki 

Engine rebuild competition qualifications

This morning I went to qualify for the Ford 5.4L SOHC V8 engine rebuild competition. There were some 25 guys (and gals) out of the 500 we have in the school. We had to take a practice engine (4-cylinder) head off, take the piston out, the caps, the crankshaft, put everything together properly and torque it to specs. Instructors were checking each step and timing the total. Droping any significant part was 60 secound penelty, dropping a wrench was a 30-second penelty.

I felt like a misfit, guys seemed so much more knowledgable and experienced, I NEVER ever took, or put in, the piston in the cylinder.

Anyway, I drew number 14, fairly in the middle, three people were tested at the time.
While waiting (watching was not allowed), we ocasionally heard things being dropped. John, my classmate, said he even dropped a whole engine when he was turning it upside down on the mount! people were coming back after some 20-30 minutes all sweaty and tired. I thought I will be sorry for having my usual several layers on.

When my turn came, I was trying not to rush, and pay attention not to drop anything. The piston cap had hard time comming off, I lost little time there, the piston itself did not want to come off. I noticed the other guy was ahead of me. From that moment on everything went smooth and fast. I finished good few minutes before the guy.

Well, I will know on Monday if I qualify, I am hopeful.

Humbly, I will say that I will NOT qualify if the Superman, He-Man, Spider-Man and their twin brothers were competing agaist me, otherwise I should be in. We will see.

The teacher/judge seemed impressed.

Oh, and the King-Kong ain't got shit on me!

After the school.

Every night I am coming home at midnight, the girls are asleep already, usually both in my bed. It is always fun to look at them sleeping.

Yesterday, Ji scared me because baby was completely covered, only little hand sticking out, but Lili did not mind it I guess. Normally, if she is face-down, or otherwise covered, she gives a really good fight for her freedom.

I eat, wash up, and do something like reading a book, etc, I am not very sleepy right after I come home. Finally, I go sleep. Ji eventually will bring baby to her own bed, so I can enjoy my own bed.

School is A-OK.

We rebuilt so far 3-speed and 4-speed manual transmissions. I think I got them down. I wrote a test today on clutches all correct. Teacher said it is a first time anybody has done it.

Today, I was watching and reading about MIT's AUVs. I am considering Ocean Engineering or Mechanical Engineeing major with Software & Electronics minors. This may probably change, but right now that is what I dream about.

The A.A. degree from LTI, B.S. from MIT, Cornell, Berkley or other college, and masters at MIT. If not maybe BMW STEP program.

In any case, I think I will teach in the future.

I just hope I have energy and resources to continue and finish school with 4.0 GPA, or close at least.

1500 cc makes 265 hp?

I have seen a turbo-charged 1500 cc snowmobiles making 260 hp on TV.

Makes you think if the American 5000 cc - 7500 cc engines are really that much of a good idea. They are heavy, they burn a lot and are not efficient.

Small volume multi-cylinder turbo engine would be much better.

But that is no news for European makers of relatively small V8 to V12 street engines. The more cylinders, the smoother the engine runs, also the heavier it becomes.

F1 cars use 3000 cc (183 cin), V10 to produce 850 hp with top speed of 230 mph.

Indy cars use turbocharged V8 2650 cc (161.703 cin) to produce 800 hp with top speed of 240 mph.

quoting...
"F1 Mauricio Gugelmin at an average speed of 240.942 mph [387.7586 km/h], was the fastest official lap in auto racing history ... Also had a practice lap of 242.333 mph [389.9972 km/h] prior to qualifying, the fastest unofficial lap in auto racing history ... Recorded the fastest race lap in the U.S. 500 at Michigan Speedway ..."

Top Le Mans speed is car #16 Dome Judd driven by Jan Lammers at 332.7 km/h.

Top speed of course does little good for races like Le Mans, where the corner speed handling is as importnant.

Hot, dark and smooth pleasure...

Oh, Brazil!
Sometimes you just feel like you could indulge yourself in that hot, dark and smooth pleasure that carries a little spice in your everyday life...

I've had a taste for a hot chacolate for a while now, to add fuel to the fire, I just read something about it.

The trouble is the american "hot chocolates" are anything but the chocolate and they make them with water to delute it even more! Oooh, 99.9% caffeine free! Can you believe it? Next thing they will water-down the beer. Shit they've done it already!

So I looked on the Web:

A recipe from 1644 of Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma is: 100 cacao beans 2 chillis ( black pepper may be substituted ) A handful of anise "ear flower" 2 mecasuchiles [ mecaxochitl ] (lacking the above two spices, powdered roses of Alexandria may be used) 1 vanilla 2 oz [ 60 g ] cinnamon 12 almonds and as many hazelnuts 1/2 lb [ 450 g ] sugar.

Well, it is a shame I don't have these basic (?) ingredients in my cupboard!

I found a good article at

http://www.ambergriscaye.com/pages/mayan/cacao.html

Boil up 12 ounces of water -- pour into a blender which has --

6 large Jabenero Chilli Peppers
2 ounces honey
2 table spoons (heaping) Roma Cacoa "powder"

Blend thoroughly.

Drink in tiny sips -- over at least one hour!!
For the people that may try this -- start with 1/4 of one jabenaro pepper. It takes about two years to "build" up to a real chocolatl drinker!!

I will need to go and hunt for a cocoa powder and some good chillies to start with...

I will stick to basics:

cocoa powder,
milk,
chilli,
vanilla / cinamon,
honey

A day wasted is an opportunity missed.

My school is associated with BMW STEP program, a 7-month training(six hours a day five days a week) with BMW for elite graduates from the post-secondary automotive schools.

BMW STEP

I just watched a test drive of new BWM 530i series, not even sold in USA yet. Adaptive lights, adaptive steering, suspension, what not. Years ahead of competition, I guess BMW is one of those brands that make studying automotive technology meaningful.

According to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation has 60,000 unfilled auto-service jobs; by 2010, that number will rise to 150,000. Why the shortages? “The grease-monkey image is still common,” says BMW North America chief Tom Purves. But graduates of BMW’s 27-week, tuition-free training program average $55,000 in starting salaries, with the potential to exceed $100,000 as they reach “master service technician” status.
"A service technician today has more technical knowledge than that held by an automotive engineer 15 years ago," BMW's STEP manager Brian Nelson says.

Finished first class at LTI

I finished the first class at Lincoln Technical Institute, 101 Intro to Automotive Technology. I know it is not much, but I got 97%, highest in the class, with 100% attendance.

Now I am in the manual transmissions and drive-trains. We will cover and repair clutches, 3, 4, 5-speed transmissions, U-joints, CV-joints, transfer cases and differentials.

Probably the most is happening on my Supra project page, so if you like cars, check it out...

supra88.blogspot.com

Update: I took down this blog since I had nothing more to publish and I sold the Supra.

Shine

I finally got to watch the movie Shine. It is a very good story based on the real life of a pianist struck by a mental illness, search for love and need to please ever-demanding father. His play make our efforts look small and insignificant. Definetely makes you reach out and want to touch the genius within us.

LTI service shop

Awful experience, nothing is getting done.

Ok, service shop is a class that is supposed to fix students' vehicles, just like a regular automotive shop. The problem is nothing is getting done fast, today all they did was tighten head bolts on my car. In this pace it will take 6 months before that car runs again, if ever. I did some work on the parking lot today, but I got really cold. I wish I had my own garage, or that I could just use a bay in the school, but that is not the case.

On top of that I broke EGR housing, it is going to cost me.

First class almost over!

Tomorrow is the final of my first class in LTI. I am so happy, ready to move on and learn something new.
So far I got 813 points out of 1000 possible, the highest in the class, leading by 10 points.
Still there is a homework to be graded for 30 points, paper for 50 points and final for 100 points. In any case I got "B" for sure even if I don't do anything else. Of course I want to finish the class as the best, just to keep the edge.
Yeah, I know if there is no other challenge, people are comming up with stupid competitions like that.

Philadelphia

I seems that we gonna move to Philly. Ji's company wants to move resources and she's got offer to move.

I don't know the details yet, I am not sure how is it going to look financially, I hope not bad, because we just bought the condo, so we would loose money on the sale. The move is planned on January, not a good market for real estate.

In any case we want to move, there is sea nearby and Appalatian trail so there should be more attractions than here in Chicago. New York is close, so we would see Tomek more often. LTI has campus in Philly, so I could transfer without much problem. Quebec is also much closer for little foreign trips. I could visit MIT and go to Acadia, N.P. that I planned for so long. We will see, I still would prefer Boston. I guess it is time to send out some resume.