Rotten rotate, new face, not resilient

I got busy with automotive work on Saturday morning.  The first task was rotating the tires on the Prius.  The front tires were getting pretty worn so I figured I would do a simple front to back rotate to hopefully buy me a little time before the tires have to be replaced.  For years I have been frustrated that the air impact wrench I owned was not powerful enough to remove lugs from a wheel.  However I was happy to discover my new 20V DeWalt impact driver was up to the task.  It broke free the lugs with very little issue, quickly spinning them off into my hand.

The tire rotation was simple and the tread on the back tires was significantly better than the front.  I had hoped the swap would result in less road noise from the tires.  Instead the opposite happened, it’s actually louder now than it was before. Damn it.

After running to Rural King with Cindy and Elsa I got busy on the big project of the day, replacing the grill in the Tacoma.  I had bought the TRD Pro style grill over a month ago and have been patiently awaiting it’s arrival which happened late last week.  I just was not thrilled with the factory TRD Sport grill which makes me almost think of the shiny “grill” mouth appliances some celebrities wear.

The remove and install process had it’s fair share of hiccups but nothing a little patience could not over come.  I may have spent a total of 45 minutes doing the work which is always extended by filming.

I am very happy with the end result.  The front end now looks less more in line with the black accents found elsewhere on the truck.  Cindy said the new look definitely is more male in appearance.

Saturday night we stayed in and watched The Legend of Tarzan.  I found it interesting that the story line takes place after Tarzan had been reintroduced to civilization.  I enjoyed the movie more than I expected to, enough to give it a B+ grade.

I once again drug myself out of bed to go run early Sunday morning.  I could tell the cold that has been clinging on for going on 10 days was still a factor.  My pace was about 25 seconds per mile off my recent best.  Oh well, at least I got the miles in.

Katie and Daniel came over to ride wheels again mid-morning.  We took them to the Naples Greenway which is a great spot to ride.  They both really enjoyed it.

The Eagles game was predictably frustrating with the team doing just enough to lose.Cindy’s brother, fiance and son were over to help share in my misery.  The loss continued a pretty damning streak.  The last 18 or 19 games that the Eagles have entered the fourth quarter of a game behind, they have lost, every, single time.  Talk about a lack of resiliency and execution.  Until the Eagles rediscover a way to make plays when it matters most their fans are going to continue to feel the pain.  Say what you will about the McNabb years, at least he was able to pull out some games at the end.  So far this squad just comes unglued when the pressure is on.

This is my birthday week, great.