Pictures- Duane
Leinninger.com
June 29th, 2016:
A Wild Kara Appears! (Part 1)
On the Friday before Gina’s due date we learned that Kara was breach (butt down) and were scheduled for a C-Section on her due date. We were a little bummed out that Gina’s recovery time would be longer and that much of what we learned in our baby classes wouldn’t be used… or so we thought. Kara decided to surprise us:
On Sunday, June 19th, we went to church as usual and performed during the service (Gina sings and I play guitar in the praise band). During a particularly energetic song, Gina started to feel a little… weird. We went home to have lunch prepare for a Father’s Day visit with my family when Gina started feeling contractions… real ones. Excited to use some of our training, we started timing their frequency and duration. We quickly reached 5-7 minute intervals, but the duration was still around 30-45 seconds. After an hour-or-so, we decided to go to the hospital and check in… since Gina wasn’t supposed to go into labor due to baby being breach.
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After checking in, we were ushered to a triage room where Gina was hooked up to some monitors, got checked out, and then told to go back home. I thought Gina might take a swing at the staff! When asked when we should come back, they said “… when the contractions are 5 minutes apart and stronger…” We ended up going to the parking lot, watching “House” on Netflix for a while, then going to a market and walking around/buying some water to drink. Not sure what to do next, we just went home.
Once home, we tried to eat lunch and wait it out: more Netflix and a few phone calls to alert family of the false alarm. Gina called her parents and after a brief conversation, hung up and immediately her water broke. Big time. For real. No mistaking what just happened. Our previously calm demeanor stepped up to “go time”: while Gina got cleaned up, I took care of the new laundry tasks. We were definitely anxious and our next trip to the hospital was definitely more hurried, but still calm.
This time it took longer to get into a room… at least it felt longer. Our nurse took a little longer than we liked to hook up the monitors (again… compared to the first visit). After we explained our concerns, she stepped it up and we heard Kara’s heartbeat. Our nerves calmed, we settled in and waited for the staff to confirm that labor had begun. Once that was complete, we were scheduled for an… um… unscheduled…(?) C-Section at 9:00. The next 40-ish minutes were a whirlwind: operating room (OR) cover-alls, spinal anesthetics, waiting outside the OR, then in the OR seated next to Gina.
It seemed like just a few minutes later that we heard Kara cry… loudly. Our daughter had arrived and our biggest adventure together begins.
[peg-image src=”https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HIU96DscVvI/V2mBQavfOnI/AAAAAAAA8WU/lLNeJHQk83wHefj51EGNAYsIxspMeqbOwCHM/s144-o/IMG_2115.JPG” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/106726501754907162579/6301650718860961233?authkey=m95zN97S54Q#6298707672910740082″ caption=”” type=”image” alt=”IMG_2115.JPG” image_size=”3264×2448″ peg_single_image_size=”w500-c” ]
June 6th, 2016:
Firebird Update – More Fuel Leaks
Today, I ran out during lunch and bought a fuel line repair kit. After an extended day at work, I ran out to the shop to see if I could get my Firebird fixed. The repair took about 30 minutes and the results looked good:
However, I noticed during the installation that there was potential for another leak on the inlet side of the filter… this might have been a much older leak that I mistook for a brake line leak when I parked my car 6 years ago. I continued prepping the car by changing the coolant and installing the re-charged Optima red top battery. Excited, I ran into the house to get my keys and returned to the barn where I turned the keys to the accessory position. The good news? The fuel pump energized. The bad news? The pressure caused a pretty nasty fuel leak right where I suspected. I’m not going to run out to the auto parts store again, instead I ordered the parts and a better tube bending tool online. It should all be here in plenty of time before the weekend. However, there’s an increasingly good chance that we’ll be heading to the hospital to welcome our daughter. Who knows, maybe this will be her first car? Nah… I wouldn’t do that to her 😉 Update: Camaro
New section of fuel line out of the fuel filter
However, I noticed during the installation that there was potential for another leak on the inlet side of the filter… this might have been a much older leak that I mistook for a brake line leak when I parked my car 6 years ago. I continued prepping the car by changing the coolant and installing the re-charged Optima red top battery. Excited, I ran into the house to get my keys and returned to the barn where I turned the keys to the accessory position. The good news? The fuel pump energized. The bad news? The pressure caused a pretty nasty fuel leak right where I suspected. I’m not going to run out to the auto parts store again, instead I ordered the parts and a better tube bending tool online. It should all be here in plenty of time before the weekend. However, there’s an increasingly good chance that we’ll be heading to the hospital to welcome our daughter. Who knows, maybe this will be her first car? Nah… I wouldn’t do that to her 😉 Update: Camaro
- Duane
June 6th, 2016:
Thoughts and Regrets Regarding Storing Cars
The registration tag on my 1989 Firebird expired in 2000. That’s not to say that I haven’t driven it since then… I have, but only to relocate it. That stock 305 cubic inch engine generated only 170hp… nearly bested by my 1998 4 cylinder Subaru (165hp and a whole lot lighter). Well, I guess that explains why I wasn’t driving it much. To further complicate things, I bought my 1999 Camaro in 2001… and there was really no competition. I still love my ’89, but haven’t driven it much.
To be honest, the same goes for my Camaro. Both have been resting in my backyard workshop. I did my best to prep them for long term storage: battery tenders, fresh oil, fuel stabilizer, fresh antifreeze, etc. I even placed a moisture absorbing container of desiccant in each of them. Car covers protected their paint. I did some things wrong and knew better. I left them both on the ground, surely (temporarily) flat-spotting their tires. I accidentally left the passenger window cracked in my Camaro, leading to mildew on much of the interior leather… and apparently a few mice visited occaionally. I didn’t start them up every month to let the engines run. About 2 weeks ago, I figured that it was time to clean out my shop before the newest addition to our family arrives. Then I figured I should take it a step further and actually reorganize and insulate my shop… and that meant moving my long neglected f-bodies around. Uncovering them, I was impressed that they’ve held up so well despite my neglect. A trip (or 2) to the auto parts store and I was prepared to swap a battery (the Optima in my Camaro survived), change the oil and filter, flush the coolant, replace the trans fluid (in the Firebird… Camaro has a manual), replace the fuel filters in both cars and replace the fuel in the Firebird. Oil, coolant and trans fluid in my Firebird all went smoothly. The battery was dead, so I couldn’t fire it up… which was good because I needed to drain the fuel and change the fuel filter. All was going well until I got to the second fitting on the fuel filter: I twisted the solid fuel line. Dammit. Here ends the story for now. I will get parts to repair the line tomorrow and will likely start my Firebird for the first time in 6-ish years. Hopefully the next update will be less exciting, if that’s possible. Update 1: Firebird Update 2: Camaro
To be honest, the same goes for my Camaro. Both have been resting in my backyard workshop. I did my best to prep them for long term storage: battery tenders, fresh oil, fuel stabilizer, fresh antifreeze, etc. I even placed a moisture absorbing container of desiccant in each of them. Car covers protected their paint. I did some things wrong and knew better. I left them both on the ground, surely (temporarily) flat-spotting their tires. I accidentally left the passenger window cracked in my Camaro, leading to mildew on much of the interior leather… and apparently a few mice visited occaionally. I didn’t start them up every month to let the engines run. About 2 weeks ago, I figured that it was time to clean out my shop before the newest addition to our family arrives. Then I figured I should take it a step further and actually reorganize and insulate my shop… and that meant moving my long neglected f-bodies around. Uncovering them, I was impressed that they’ve held up so well despite my neglect. A trip (or 2) to the auto parts store and I was prepared to swap a battery (the Optima in my Camaro survived), change the oil and filter, flush the coolant, replace the trans fluid (in the Firebird… Camaro has a manual), replace the fuel filters in both cars and replace the fuel in the Firebird. Oil, coolant and trans fluid in my Firebird all went smoothly. The battery was dead, so I couldn’t fire it up… which was good because I needed to drain the fuel and change the fuel filter. All was going well until I got to the second fitting on the fuel filter: I twisted the solid fuel line. Dammit. Here ends the story for now. I will get parts to repair the line tomorrow and will likely start my Firebird for the first time in 6-ish years. Hopefully the next update will be less exciting, if that’s possible. Update 1: Firebird Update 2: Camaro
- Duane
April 25th, 2016:
Retro Computer Restoration
I’ve been spending a lot of time restoring some old computers. Why? Because I can! It’s kind of like restoring an old car, except it’s cheap and I actually use them instead of dusting them off with a diaper.
Each has received a few upgrades or modernizations. Stay tuned to my youtube channel for some details coming soon.
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- Even the floppies still work!
- Duane
March 30th, 2016:
Baby!
While not news to most, I though I should finally update my blog and note that we’re expecting a daughter in late June! We’re both thrilled and terrified, thank you very much…
Her room is almost together (painted and carpeted… furniture assembly in progress). Our house layout has changed a bit (moved the exercise equipment from the nursery to the den, and den furniture into the living room, and living room furniture into the basement bar). We have a short list of names, but will make that final decision when we meet her.
- Duane
