Plastic #3 = a tub of Red Vines

Going back two years ago I was in Costco with a friend buying some bulk food when I saw a bucket of Red Vines. For some reason they appealed to me at that moment and I bought the tub of sugar. What I didn't expect was a plastic taste on the bottom third of the licorice. Even more upsetting was a news report a week later on a local tv station warning against plastic #3 seeping chemicals into food.

More recently plastics #5 and #7 have been in the news this past year over baby bottles. That caught most mothers by alarm and kind of propelled the belief or truth about plastics being unsafe. One thing I read that the chemicals in plastics can do is seep into the body causing some people to have diabetes as well many other crazy problems. Kind of ironic that I told my mother her half melted bottle of sugar free maple syrup from the microwave was now more problematic for her diabetes than the sugar would have been. On the bottom of her plastic bottle was the #5, the same given in the baby bottle stories.

I was at Costco again last week eating an fatty oil soaked pizza you can buy at their "cafe". But while in the store shopping for things like a box of Dentyne peppermint gum, Korean pears and hot apple cider powder mix, I noticed the Red Vines stacked 4 feet high. I went and looked at the tub and sure enough the bottom still had a #3 on it. This plastic is more often found in building materials but there are also food distributors who use it too. I've come to realize in the past two years that if your going to eat or drink from plastic you should limit it to the #1 and #2 plastics. They are stronger and seep less chemicals.

A friend of mine from England who I converse with regularly through email recently told that switching from chemical based "toiletries" to organic has solved long occurring problems with nasal and ear infections. These have been common problems for this person for years. Maybe just allowing the body to act like its built rather than being inhibited by the chemicals. (Read the fourth paragraph of the link below under "Dioxins" where it mentions "immune system suppression") Which makes me think the anti-smoking commercials that talk about the poisons in cigarets could just as easily target things we take for granted in our every day lives, like the asphalt we drive on every day.

Believe it or not even with all the news coverage two years ago about the #3 plastic I couldn't find anything on the net until I relied on a some what trusted source, Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride

Actually you can pay to read about the #5 plastic leaking chemicals into our bodies.

The start of Winter

Autumn has arrived in the Valley

I didn't have the time during the optimal days to get into the mountains this year. But I found this one tree that took me by surprise. I was without my camera the day before when I first saw it and in one day the top red leafs lost a bit of life and vibrance. I think its a Silver Maple. I can only imagine the North East in fall.

For post camera work flow i've forgotten about Nikon's NX2 program (slower than riding the local bus system) and have been really happy using Adobe Lightroom 2. Its a real bummer it took me over a two months to find this out. I thought what would be the point if I bought the new photoshop (hasn't happened yet). But Adobe Lightroom 2 is the way to go until someone shows me otherwise. Please do if I'm still not using the best program for a digital workflow.

Band of Annuals

A couple weeks ago I shot my first concert with a digital camera (I sold out) at Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo. It was the send off show for a local band heading out across the country for over a month. The Band Of Annuals are a great band from Salt Lake and have caught the attention of a few across the country. They are opening for the Minus 5 in Seattle. The Minus 5 includes REM's guitarist Peter Buck who has always fueled interesting guitar work. The BOA opened up for the Mother Hips earlier this year at the Urban Lounge. I invited a friend along for the show that night and found him respond with instant amazement at the sound coming from the stage. He looked puzzled at how good they sounded and had to move a few feet to see where the other voice of vocalist Jeremi Hanson was hiding behind her keyboards. Jay Henderson could be considered the main singer but when the two sing together its something else. Like Peanut butter and jelly, Simon and Garfunkle, (with no similarities to either) the mix of two voices, male and female, along with the subtle yet overwhelming sounds that wrap around the listener like the softest of blankets. It comforts and inspires. Anyways, its indescribable when the night is right and the sound system translates the bands greatest potential to the audience. Its no wonder they've found some far distant fans from their main stay, Kilby Court.

Check my link to flickr for more from this show.

A few new photos from the D700

After a couple weeks with the new camera I've found a new interest in night time photography. I attempted to shoot the meteor shower but only caught one before the winds became chilling up Hobble Creek Canyon. It was nearly 2 am when I left before the most concentrated numbers would be seen. But the camera performed beyond what I thought would be possible and gone was the guessing I use to do in night time photographs. I've included two of the many. My first shooting star can be seen just above the mountain. The other one is from Springville looking towards Salem. I must be doing something wrong because every jpg I upload to the blog seems to be of a lesser quality. Just click the photo for a better look.

The real reason oil prices have been out of control.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/20/AR2008082003898.html

Its funny that the same change in law that allowed a loop hole for Dick Cheney's old employer Enron is also to blame for allowing the current oil speculators the right to buy commodities. Enron, Iraq, oil, and who really knows the next great depression.

Like the Dude said, you find who benefits the most and there you have it, she kidnapped herself man.

Got my first real digital camera this week.

The photo was shot last night from a friends back porch. I cropped the photo to a third of the original size to show the lightning up close. It was around 11pm and dark out. I got a few more strikes but this is the one I like.

The Nikon D700 is the digital camera I've waited years for. Finally a camera at a reasonable price that actually rocks. Full size (35mm film size) sensor, not the smaller DX version that had been the norm until now for nikon. I shot a million dollar house for 4.5 hours this past thursday morning for Skrilla Builders. The camera worked beautifully and effortlessly to the extent I felt it was cheating the old need to know something film photography. Had I shot film it would have taken 10 rolls of 35mm and multiple filters to get white balance. Besides the great quality at high ISO's allowed me to leave the tripod after the first hour to just shoot hand held. That was very important due to a 9 am shooting deadline to get the details though out the house photographed before the homeowners moved 3 semi-trucks worth of stuff into the behemoth.

To have bought film, processed and scanned the stuff it would have cost me $200. Enough to buy memory cards that will last years. Plus I actually can look at the photos instantly without expensive, time consuming Poloroid instant self developing film. Instant feedback, skipping ISO settings, D-lighting which gives more details in the shadow and highlights, all just made for a really great experience. I've shot and stored away a hundred rolls of film the past few years without scanning or printing them. I got pretty good at just reading the negatives when I picked them up and took my time to archive em while they hung on the wall. Now I've got some time to catch up with my film archive. I will still shoot film for the sake of having a negative with certain subject matters. Film has been a great part of my life's experience's. Hopefully one day I can get my own color and B/w darkroom set up and have some fun with the negatives I've shot over the past decade.

Yesterday's problem

My problem yesterday came while working on the blue Volvo wagon. My suspicion was made real when I found that the connection from a wire to the knock sensor was being pressed against by an idle bypass hose, loosening the male connector on sensor. I'm battling a hesitation problem like the gas cuts out quickly while driving above 20 mph. Its also not idling without the help of my gas pedal for the first minute. After the car warms up its good to go.

This wouldn't be the first thing wrong with the car. I've been able to drive the car only a few random weeks that make up a couple months filling in just a little of over two years that I've had it from purchase. In that time I got my first speeding ticket while driving the beast. How could I pass up a car off craigslist when it had so many extras coming with it for free. I figured out after taking off the initial price the net worth of all that was included, some new in the box, I paid about $250-300 for it. It has virtually no rust for a 25 year old car which translated into a worthwhile project. But since that time its had the engine rewired, gas filter replaced 2 times, all exhaust replaced, fuel sending unit and pre pump, torque rod bushings, carpet, plastic molding around windows, shorts in the wiring, new distributor (used), belts, rims, shoot I could keep going but I always forget something. A lot of which are from donor cars. A practical way to recycle.

Yesterdays problem wasn't too bad. I could just simply solder it onto the knock sensor for fear it had come loose. The problem started up again around the time the IAC was removed and cleaned. The hose hitting into the knock sensor was coming from the IAC on its way back to the intake manifold. I moved the connection around and broke it off the knock sensor. You have to have a knock sensor to help the car to calculate its timing and gas to air ratio. I successfully soldered the male connector to the knock sensor but decided it wasn't on their at the correct angle. I heated it up again turning the solder to liquid and causing the male connector to drop nearly out of site at the beginning of a tunnel gong under the oil separation box. After successfully pushing it under the separation box and out of view and out of reach, I knew what had to be done. The new intake manifold gasket was going on the car and in the process I would replace the thermostat sensor under the impossible to reach 4th cylinder intake and reclaim the lost connector by having clear access to the oil separation box.

I had started around 2:30 in the afternoon and before too long half the engine (nearly everything prior to the block) would be disconnected and approaching 6 pm. To take the intake off you have to disconnect the the fuel rail plus gas lines and injectors. Countless vacuum hoses, the one big hose, wire harness connections, multiple ground wires, the throttle cable, and 10 bolts to the manifold. Not an easy 10 bolts like I thought they would be before I started, two would cause me grief with one being lost and a replacement needed. No worries I found one. Once the intake manifold is ready to be removed it becomes clear the main wiring harness will have to be disconnected from the ECU in the passenger foot well and threaded with the FI relays back into the engine compartment and through the multiple vacume hoses, wiring, fuel injectors with the rail. All so I can slide it all down through an opening between intake #3 and #4. I rerouted it around the manifold upon installation.

The gasket was for sure needing replacement which helps to make the job feel worthwhile. The thermostat sensor also in need of a change. I cleaned around the intake holes on the block with a rag and some throttle cleanser. Earlier in the day I had washed the engine with some degreaser focusing on the area where the block meets the intake. Got some of it looking back to silver to match the valve covers new shine from earlier. The intake manifold was dusty and spotted with remains of some kind of fluid. A medium sized wire brush did a great job at getting a fresh silver look. I got a large used piece of cardboard under the intake manifold and sprayed throttle body cleanser through out and cleaned the ports for the fuel injectors. I got it looking pretty good but next time I think the removal of the throttle body will enable me to take the manifold to the car wash and really get the thing inside and out looking new. Next time as in my other Volvo 244 sedan. Notice the 44 sedan and 45 wagon. 240 as in plural for 244 and 245. Just some teaching of the Volvarian language.

The procedure in the manual for reassembly is to just go in reverse. Pretty simple if you can remember everything. I used for the first time a magnet page to hold all the bolts in order which helped. The only real mistake happened right at first. I forgot to check the one lonely bolt that connects to the under middle side of the intake manifold. The other 9 fit up top against the engine this one is bolted to a steal arm reaching up from the engine mount. I had to take all the top bolts off again and remove the intake to get the steal arm about 3 inches towards the intake hose. Once I got the manifold bolted on everything else went pretty quick. The sun was almost down at this point and a good 6 hours of stretching the legs and bending the back into the engine was over. Its been 15 hours since I finished the task and my everything aches. A little harder than the front brakes and rotors I replaced earlier in the week on the 86 244. I got the rotors half off the usual $40 each and the brake pads came from a trunk at the junk yard a few years ago for $15. Today I might change out a fuel pump and try the IAC (Idle Control Valve, helps to regulate the idle speed) from the sedan to try and cure the bad idle at cold start.

video link: Blurt, the new magazine taking the place of Harp. Great reviews and videos online.
The video is of the band fleet foxes. They are the big hype at the moment, opening for Wilco in the coming weeks. Their show this past week got cancelled here near home. Oh well. I like the actual cinema in the film and how it works with the music.
http://www.blurt-online.com/video/view/84/