Two Weeks, Part 2

Jan 16 to 31

The work on the Mercedes 300d had dramatic effects. These cars are tanks but they need regular checkups. The valve adjustment smoothed out all kinds of issues: jerky shifting in 1st and 2nd, long shutdown times, and nailing in the first cylinder on cold start. It runs smoother and feels like it has more jump (although it still cannot be confused for a quick or fast car).

Next up on the list: both flex discs need to be replaced, as do the motor mounts. 45 year old rubber holding on for dear life.

Separately, I finally got around to buying an Oyster card. Bus route 1 goes right by my house so I can hop on and be over in stadium or downtown in half an hour.

I’m bored with Tacoma. It’s hard to see familiar places in a new way and Tacoma is pretty quiet even on busy nights. I’m sure people would disagree with me - and yeah after all the travel to interesting places I can’t help compare and that’s a losing game every time. I’m still bored.

Speaking of interesting, we dog sat for some friends. Chip is a 1.5 year old Porty with that puppy energy. We had a blast hanging out and it was exhausting.

He wears a harness; when he’s excited about something he’ll try to take off and can’t because of the leash so he gets up on his hind legs and “walks”. It looks ridiculous and we laughed every time.

Earlier this week our home internet was down for maintenance so I commuted up with Casey and found a coffee shop to work. It was close to the Museum of Flight so I spent an hour or so wandering around.

You have to wonder what top secret projects they’re building these days. Probably some version of “a computer does everything” because we live in a boring dystopia.

I try not to mythologize the past - it was just as weird and broken as life is today - but it’s hard to see this stuff and think the digital era has been worth it. Software is easy and mostly not worth remembering.