MAF Maid, dumb, LT

So the ripped open areas on my palm looked/felt better so I thought I would try to do a few pull ups at the gym yesterday.  Well by the end of the session I had a bloody palm again.  Some of the dead callused skin looks like it dug in and caused the area to open up again.  It was stupid of me.  Today I will try some false grip pull ups that don’t involve the injured area of my hand.

Speaking of pull ups, I recently joined the message board of bar-barians.com. Bar-barians originally was a bunch of inner city guys that got together to do some INCREDIBLE exercises on a bar.  Their amazing videos have helped grow the “hobby” of extreme body weight exercises.

I was encouraged to join the board by a guy I found on YouTube doing pull up videos.  Since joining I was pleasantly surprised at what I found.  Even though many of the people in the forum are very advanced in their strength and gymnastic ability, they are more than happy to encourage and help others that still have a long way to go.

I posted my home made pull up station on the board which seemed to validate my commitment to the bar.  The vibe on the forum is very positive, very supportive and very motivational.  So far I really like it.  The coolest thing is bar-barians span the globe.  I see people from everywhere getting involved.

Last night I knocked off a potential weekend project by cleaning the MAF (mass air flow) sensor on the Tacoma.  The research I did on the 171 error pointed to a dirty MAF as the most likely suspect.  During my research I found that cleaning the MAF is something that should be done every 30,000 miles.  It was never done for the first 112,000 miles, until last night.

Removing the MAF wasn’t very difficult.  Once I removed it I simply sprayed it down repeatedly with a cleaner that is designed specifically for the MAF.  While that was drying I sprayed some of the cleaner into the throttle body to remove some of the carbon build up.  It was recommended to do that while cleaning the MAF.

The entire process wasn’t difficult at all.  I may have spent 30-45 minutes on it total.  After cleaning up I attached my code reader to the truck and cleared the code.  So far the light has remained off however I won’t know for sure if I fixed it unless the light remains off for a couple weeks.  If it returns that means a new MAF would be in order which is rather pricey.

When I found that video of the 2011 Camaro HUD I just happened to see a link to an Iphone HUD app.  Basically it is an app that utilizes the Iphone 3G/3GS gps to provide a HUD in ANY vehicle.  It is pretty awesome and cheap to boot.  I think it was two or three bucks.

The app has two modes. In HUD mode it reverses the image on the screen of the Iphone so when it relects back to you in the windshield it looks correct.  You can also have it display normally if you want to just prop your Iphone on the instrument cluster for daytime use.  HUD mode will not be effective during the day, the Iphone is not bright enough to overpower daylight.

I used it in non-HUD mode on the way home.  It worked great.  You can set speed markers that warn you if you go over a desired top speed, a nice way to prevent speeding tickets.  It also has the ability to alert you to known red light/speed cameras using a national database.  If you approach such a trap it will warn you so you can react accordingly.

I was excited to see how it looked at night.  I hopped in the Tacoma as it was getting dark and tried it out.  I was bummed when I realized that something in the construction of the Toyota windshield caused an annoying double image to display, regardless of the position or angle I used.  If I held it against my side window it looked perfect.

I suppose if you are interested in the app you should hold your Iphone up to your windshield at night and see if you see double or not.  Still even without using it as a true HUD it is well worth the money for me for the pure geek factor.

As I was working on the truck I was listening to guys on the radio give some details of the charges against LT, the ORIGINAL LT, Lawrence Taylor.  As the details were revealed of the charges the sadder and more disgusted I got.  LT has had a very troubled history over the years with drug, tax and violence issues. However, if this is true he has set the bar at a new sewer-like low level.

He is being charged with raping a 15 year old.  The picture being painted is the 15 year old was actually an unwilling prostitute.  Not only are they charging him with having sex with her, he is accused of slapping the girl around as well.

Even though I am a lifetime Eagles fan, I always admired and respected what LT did as a player.  He was a man among boys on the football field and he dominated the game for years.  Even with the various problems he has had in his personal life, I still always thought he overall was a decent guy.  Well if these allegations have any degree of truth he will have erased any positive thoughts I could possibly have about him.  He will permanently be a low life piece of shit that deserves as much punishment as can be brought against him.

This weekend will be a fun one.  Ali will be competing in her first triathlon tomorrow morning.  I have never been to a triathlon so I am interested in taking it all in.  Ali is nervous about the event since it is a whole new challenge. I am positive she will do quite well.

We will be taking mom out to eat on Mothers Day.  It’s always nice to visit with mom.  Of course I will be filling in the gaps in the weekend with various to do’s.

My volleyball career has been on life support.  The past few years I have only played a handful of times, literally.  The last time Randall and I played it really went poorly.  As a result I have been in no rush to get back on the court anytime soon.  Well Randall told me about a tournament that sparks my interest.

Over the past decade the rules of beach volleyball have changed dramatically.  All of these changes were made to speed up the game at the pro level as well as to make things more exciting.  Unfortunately these rules removed a lot teeth from my game which already had a gap filled smile.

This tourney would be a chance to once again relish in side out scoring and a full size court, the two changes that I hated the most.  One of the reasons that I have always loved the Pottstown Rumble is they still adhere to the old school rules.

A bigger court gives me a lot more real estate to hit into.  The combination of a bigger court and side out scoring also removes the hesitation I find with modern rules and aggressive serving.  My serve used to be a real asset in my game.  Now I am more concerned with keeping the serve just in so I don’t cost my team a point.

I have no delusions that a big court and old rules is going to also magically fix some of the physical limitations I have found playing a young man’s game after four decade plus on the planet.  What it will do is make the game a lot more fun for me, regardless of the outcome.  Fun comes first nowadays.