Category: Mrs. OkieRover

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Family and Finally a Garage Day! (Post #328) 4/13/2013

Finally I have a Garage Day! The weather is cooperating and my schedule is clear. I am asking no sympathy for my schedule I do it to myself.

I took the Range Rover to Dibble, Oklahoma to watch my grand daughter play T-ball. I love the two lane highways in Oklahoma and this was an opportunity to drive on them. Specifically highways 39, 76, 74b, and 24. 74b between Goldsby and the intersection with 76 just past Cole, Oklahoma has those great “lose-your-stomach” peaks on the hills.

I rolled into Dibble and they had blocked the parking lot at one end forcing me to either drive a few blocks around to the other lot or just go off the road and turn around. Of course, I picked option two. When I turned in to the lot it was a steep ditch, the approach angle was fine, no worries there, but when I tested the departure angle I contacted the ground. No damage that I can tell, but it was enough to make a furrow in the ground as evidenced by the dirt on my hitch.

I got a picture of our number 9 on third. The weather had just turned with a cold front passing through. Amazing how many Okies attending the game were totally unprepared for a serious change in temperature. Think 81 F to 61 F in three minutes with a 15-20 mph north wind. Making windchill something like 55 F.

We had family pictures this week. We went over to the University of Oklahoma campus and took pictures of my wife’s family. We spotted this Mediterranean House Gecko on one of the columns in front of Evan’s Hall.

Unfortunately for the gecko a Mockingbird had also spotted him and as soon as we were done, the Mockingbird swooped in and had a snack. Much to the chagrin of the grand kids. As we reminded them of the circle of life. They then told us of watching a hawk destroy a squirrel. They thought it was cool.

After this year, I may attempt to see how many different species of reptiles I can see in the wild, instead of birds. I’ve also thought of a quest of mammals.

Mrs. OkieRover with RovErica. That’s her dad Grady on her right. Although he was a Navy man he’s alright with me. His sense of humor is top-notch. He served on the USS Essex back in the day. He started out with a stint with the Oklahoma National Guard at age 15. He told them he was 18. Funny how times have changed.

This is my son-in-law Justin and my oldest Lecia whom you’ve heard referred to on this site as Fireball for her propensity to throw softballs hard enough to register on the Richter scale when you catch them.

Justin you have seen in my historical pictures. Although his people are Pottawatomie and mostly “uncivilized”, he has not totally shunned me teaching Cherokee words to the grandchildren.

Here we have the grand children and my son Diet Mountain Drew. Just out of frame is the princess Prestyn in her baby bucket.

I am greatly blessed by these people and proud of each and every one of them. I couldn’t ask for better people if I made them myself…

The love of family and the admiration of friends is much more important than wealth and privilege.
Charles Kuralt

I couldn’t agree more Chuck. If you need me I’ll be in the garage.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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LR-ADHD, Serious and Very Real (Post #323) 3/8/2013

We have all had moments when this scenario has happened to us.

You are working on a task on your Land Rover, let’s say an oil change, and you notice there is a badly corroded wire on the coil. Those wires are flimsy and prone to corroding. You stop to inspect it and notice the wire to the connector shows signs it will probably break off on the next armadillo you run over. So you get a wire cutter and nip it off and go to the shelf to get another connector end and some heat shrink to minimize the chances of this happening again.

When you get to the shelf you see the light bulbs you bought last week when your neighbor told you the left back-up lamp was out. So you go to the tool chest to get a Phillip’s screwdriver to put the bulb in, after all, it will only take a minute. Right?

When you get to the tail light you notice the rhino-lining on the rear lamp guards has faded to gray. You remember you have a can of flat black left over from the “pirate ship Halloween project” you made for your neighborhood Trunk-or-Treat. As you reach for it you see the pre-measured tubes of CV joint lubricant you bought two months ago after you heard what you thought was the tell tale metal knuckle sound coming from the front when you were leaving the camp ground. And just then you remember you need to put the away the camping gear that still litters the garage floor.

Do you even remember what it was you were working on? Throw in a refrigerator full of Boddington’s and you probably have forgotten why you were in the garage in the first place.

This is LR-ADHD, Land Rover – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Sadly, it is mostly incurable. You have so many “little” tasks to do on your Land Rover that you get overwhelmed. And like the proverbial dog being distracted by a squirrel, you will forever be side tracked by another task the minute you start a new one.

To aid me in battling this terrible disease, I am going to install a white board in the garage where I can write down the projects I need to do on the Range Rover. If I use a little bit of my project management skills I can probably maximize my time in the garage drinking Boddington’s and watching sports working on the things that will help Mrs. OkieRover and I to circumnavigate the great state of Oklahoma this summer or early fall.

I have also started a list of the items I should pull off any Classic Range Rovers I find in the breakers yards. It will also help me keep track of any items I decide to buy off eBay when I see the weekly email of the Land Rover stores I am following.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been in a hardware store and failed to buy something I need. Getting old is brutal. The first thing to go is the mind. I used to think it was from all the booze I drank as a young man. But that sadly doesn’t work as a theory because my friend who seldom drank to excess has memory problems as well.

So if you are like me and afflicted with LR-ADHD go down swinging and employ the memory aiding devices available to you.

Thanks for ummmm, what ever it was you were doing a minute ago and Happy Rovering.

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Two Classics and Their Classic (Post #321) 2/25/2013

You can’t tell me cars aren’t important to people. Such a great video.

What a great story. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Mrs. Okierover and I’s first cars were nothing to be excited about. I guess the 1992 Ford Escort was the first car we bought together. We quickly outgrew it with the addition of Diet Mt. Drew. Our second car was the 1993 Ford Ranger pickup truck. It served us very well. Our first Land Rover? Well, we still have it. 1993 Range Rover LWB.

On a side note, I had a great weekend. I’ll have some pictures and a story up later this week.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Sooooo Incredibly Busy (Post #320) 2/20/2013

I thought I’d drop a note so you would know I’m not dead. I’ve been really busy with work and school. I completed the fundamentals for Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt (Strong America Now) over the last three weekends. I’ll finish my Green Belt project this summer. My SQL Server (Wikipedia) class at Oklahoma City Community College class is starting to kick my butt. Big test tonight. This is going to require more cycles if I am to be successful with it.

The weather also hasn’t cooperated. I woke up and drove in this morning (February 20) to GIANT snowflakes coming down. This is the second time this year, shoot fire, this month! I was sitting in McNellie’s Pub in Midtown OKC when it did this last. It looked like we were sitting in a snow globe.

We need the rain and/or snow desperately so I am not complaining. I hope it rains a lot more. The drought is the worst I can remember seeing it. Makes me wonder if I shouldn’t read up on the Dust Bowl (PBS) again. The days it did cooperate, I was sitting in the Carson Engineering Center at OU learning Six Sigma and Lean principles. I’m barely smart enough to open the doors of this Nerditorium, however, Scuba Seamus (Diet Mt. Drew’s friend) who is studying mechanical engineering was in my class, so I was able to sneak in with a kind word from him.

I’m at 37 birds for this birding season. I was pleased to see an American Kestrel on the way home the other day. Even more exciting was seeing the Redhead swimming in a local pond. They are migrating back to Canada and it was quite a treat for me to see one.

Grand baby #3, Prestyn, is doing swimmingly well. She is cute as a bug and we have pictures to prove it, lots and lots of pictures. Her Mimi is happy when she gets to visit. When Mimi is happy, everyone is happy.

RovErica is now engaged. She met a young man that Mrs. OkieRover and I really like. Best of all he thinks RovErica hung the moon. Bonus for us (the readers of this blog and I), he’s mechanical. And not the Fat Jack “I can fix it, I’m mechanical.” and then he starts wailing on the outboard motor with a hammer from the movie Splash (1984) either. He graduated from Wyotech while working on his Masters. Yeah, my evil plans to have him fix the ABS relay buzzing problem are already in the works. He needs a nickname for this blog…but I’m working on that.

Diet Mt. Drew is considering moving back in with us and going back to school. It’ll kill him to do it, but I think he’ll like the amount of cash in his pocket and the well stocked pantry and the free internet service and cable TV.

I’m going to the South Central Coalition of Historical Trekkers meet this weekend at Fort Gibson. I’ll take lots of pictures, not that you want to see them, but I want to take them. It will hopefully be a nice break for me. I need to let the flywheel spin for a few turns without me having to spin it if you know what I mean.

My new TerraFirma springs and shocks are in and have been sitting in the garage for nearly a month. I hope to put them on the first weekend of March. Mrs. OkieRover will be away from the house for a lady’s retreat so unfettered Land Rover mechanicing should ensue. I can fix it, I’m mechanical.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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Grandchildren, The Definitive Post (Post #319) 1/31/2013

Grady, Prestyn, Cadence

If you know me personally you already know we have a new grandchild. Prestyn Rhenea was born at 1631 on January 28th, 2013. She came in at 18.5 inches and 7 pounds 7 ounces. Big brother and big sissy are very happy to have her. Mom and baby are doing great and there were no complications. It is my understanding that Prestyn has quite a set of pipes.

Yes, I know they are not wearing seat belts.
We only had to drive a couple of blocks in the neighborhood.

While we were waiting for baby Prestyn to be born we had the grand kids for a few days.

We are in the middle of January and it was near 70F outside, so Mrs. Okierover and I took them to the park one day. I risked a certain chewing out and possibly death from their mom, but I let them play on the teeter totter with no hands, slide down the slide train style, and let them steer the Range Rover on the way home. Some fouls are more egregious than others. 😉

I figured since I once let their mommy drive my 1974 BMW 3.0s around the softball field by the Indian Hills Steak House when she was six years old, I was in the clear. I know what you are thinking “driving?”. She was actually driving, pedals and till all in her control. Obviously, a great time was had by all (in both incidences until mom found out). This is why I am the greatest grandpa in the known universe.

Such a ham! 

Grand kids love Land Rovers. These two play inside of mine every chance they get. So far they haven’t broken anything that couldn’t be fixed. When I was constructing their playground set a couple of weeks ago they sat in the Range Rover and played with their “See-and-Say”‘s or whatever those tablet things are they got for Christmas. Our Range Rover acts as a defacto human habi-trail when they are near it. Imagine how much fun a roof rack is going to be!

Even their dog Paisley (85 pound Lab) was up in the back rummaging around and managed to steal both my water bottles and chew them into unrecognizable shapes. What is it with all the dogs in my life? They are all chewers.

So I know this is not “definitive” by definition. It is merely another post about my grandchildren and how proud I am to be a grandfather thrice over.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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195,000 miles (Post #316) 1/19/2013

195,000 That’s a lot.
Just 5,000 more miles and I’ve  reached TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES (dramatic reverb) in a LAND ROVER! I know there are Land Rovers out there that have crossed that mile marker and are about to lap it. I’ve only had one other vehicle with anything close to that kind of mileage on her. That was my 1993 Ford Ranger pick-up truck. I sold her after 185,000 enjoyable miles.

That Ford Ranger still had the original clutch in it. In comparison the Range Rover still has her original transmission. But not for long. I need to have the transmission rebuilt. As I have mentioned before, the  transmission is slipping. I know I’ll improve on my gas mileage if I have a rebuilt transmission.

In addition to the transmission, I need to sort out the sound system and get a functioning air conditioning unit working. If I am to make the Range Rover a daily driver again that will need to happen.

The door handles will also need to be adjusted again. I can’t seem to get those working correctly. I may take her into a body shop and get their opinion about it. The left rear door is so far out of wack I can hear the air escaping like I have a window cracked open. That is disappointing.

After that the anti-lock brake system is out of range due to at least one bad wheel sensor. Those are ridiculously expensive in my opinion. But if I want the factory system to work correctly I’ll need to sort that out.

Springs and shocks are on their way. I ordered those last week. I’m hoping that won’t change the drive shaft angles too much. The springs will provide a 2 inch lift. I’m optimistic that will not affect the drive geometry too much.

The last thing is the buzzing sound I sometimes get. The guess is it is related to the brakes. More on this as I get closer to finding the part causing the sound. I think it is a relay that is failing. I hate electrical problems.

Out on the periphery is a problem with the headlight being too dim. I read something once upon a time about the wiring harness being inadequate. It may just be a set of Hella headlights that have reached the end of their life.

Well that is a basic list of the things I have to deal with as the clock turns 200,000.

Thanks for reading and Happy Rovering.

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