Welding & Racing & Cooking

Frank tells me I'm behind on my blogging. This is true. I've been spending my writing time working on a website. It's not published yet, but I'll let you know when it is. I'll be open to feedback.

For all you Chicago folks (and anyone else), who wonders if I miss the big city: not really. I miss WAD (West African Dance) and Ethiopian Diamond and friends...but overall, no. Check out this view I drive by once or twice a day:

Peoria is a beautiful little city or big town that's retained a lot of natural prettiness. I like that.

Overall, life has been good. I've been welding! At first, I really did not like it. But, as I have started to understand how I needed to adjust my technique in order to improve a weld, it has become a lot more fun. I enjoy focused work and learning new skills that require hand-eye coordination, and a different, deeper understanding of our environment--how electricity and metals behave--very interesting! The guys in my classes are fun, and very supportive of me (being a girl) learning to weld. I feel it is appropriate for me to learn how to weld in Peoria; so much industry and manufacturing in this town!

Below is a weld I did last night. It is an Vertical Upward weld on steel. Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) also known as MIG or MAG welding. The piece of metal is in a vertical position when I'm welding on it, and I'm moving up (not down) as I weld. This is one of the more difficult welding positions, because the melted steel is 2800+ degrees F and wants to pool and succumb to gravity, so I'm rather proud of it being (relatively) pretty. One of my classmates told me to "take it home and frame it." I thought I'd post it on a blog instead. This is a butt joint and a lap joint.

Below is a 3-layer pad in the Vertical Downward position with GMAW. Not so difficult, really. 3-layer pads are what they sound and look like: a pad of overlapping stinger beads, then a second layer of stringer beads in a perpendicular direction, and a third in the original direction. You want to get it as smooth as possible.

This (below) is a 3-layer pad with a Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW or ARC or stick welder) in a flat position with an E-6013 rod that I did on Monday. Stick welding has a lot more spatter because the rod is covered with a flux. Instead of the shielding gas (such as Argon) in GMAW, the weld pool is shielded from the harmful gases in the atmosphere by the gas given off by the burning flux. The flux turns to gas and to slag, which is sort of a cocoon for the weld bead. Slag protects the weld and slows down the cooling process, making the metal less prone to cracking and shrinking. But, slag is really annoying because you have to hammer and wire brush it off after ever weld, and any slag left behind will make any future welds done on top of it ugly and weak from impurities. Stick welding is more time consuming than GMAW welding, and doesn't make as pretty of welds. I do enjoy learning it though, because it is a much more difficult to do well.

*****

We went racing last weekend. I had a great time--I rode with Frank 5 of 10 times! Frank was frustrated by the poor handling of the mustang. I think that the chassis is floppy, but what do I really know?

Here is Frank buckling up for a test drive a couple days beforehand (I think he's so cute!):

Sig wanted to go too, but I pulled rank:

On the way there we stopped and visited with an old friend of mine in C-U. That was nice.

I tried to upload some video footage...but it was taking way too long. Anyhow, we raced.

*****

In other news, I tricked Frank into eating tofu again...by putting it in lasagna. Looks like cheese, right?

The sauce is my homemade sauce! plus Boca crumbles for the lasagna. I think we've just about nailed a recipe. Next time I made the sauce, I'll post it.

The lasagna put together:

Eric's old college recipe for lasagna. Yum!

And I've decided to start baking bread. I started some Sourdough starter today. I'm excited about this!

First the warm water, yeast, and sugar:

And 10 minutes later...yay, they're alive! (Yeast really take great pictures, don't they?)

Then mixing in the flour, to let it sit for 2-3 days.

My sister is going to be visiting her bf in Iowa City (from Boston), and I'm thinking of popping over to see her on Sunday. Maybe I'll have a fresh sourdough loaf for her, if all turns out well!

Frank and I are planning a trip to the Carolinas in a couple weeks to check out Greensboro, Charlotte, and Greenville. Frank is planning on graduating in May and we're exploring our options...more on that later.

Wild Rides!

I went racing with Frank!  Three times I rode with him in his Mustang.  Very exciting.  Here's a video of him driving the track we were at, to give you an idea: 

Of course, what you can't get from the video is the feeling of your body being pushed around in the bucket seats with the g-forces with the decelerations and turns at the highest possible speeds.  Frank races time trials, which means he is racing against the clock, not for position against other cars.  And, it's not a race to see how fast he can go, or how fast he can accelerate, it's about how fast he can travel around the track.  Since it is a very curvy track, how fast can he drive around the corners is a big part of it, and makes for a very wild ride!  

Frank's mom came on Sunday and took some pictures of me in the car (Thanks, Susan!):

The hood is not actually white.  It's aluminum.  Very lightweight, so good for racing.  Frank is all about dropping weight to be faster.

On my first ride with Frank, we had a flat tire--the eventual diagnosis was some sort of puncture wound.  Unfortunate.  But fortunately, we'd brought his other set of wheels in case it rained and he needed the knobbier tires.  It didn't rain, but it was good we had them!  

After we get off the track and take off our helmets, Frank is always super sweaty and hot looking.  Driving like that with no power steering and a very difficult clutch to push in is quite a workout!  

On his third time out, he cracked a rotor.  The rotor is the metal disc that the caliper clamps onto in order to slow and/or stop the car.  

I felt like I was in an iPhone commercial at this point--looking up and calling the nearest Autozones, Advance Autos, and Napa Auto Parts stores on the way into town.  There was a huge time pressure because Frank is an instructor and had to be back relatively soon to instruct.

Here is Frank quickly installing a shiny brand new rotor:

What these photos do not capture is the attention Frank's Mustang attracts.  Most (all?) of the cars out there look very pretty and expensive and fancy: BMWs, Porches, Corvettes, Lotus' (my personal favorite, based on looks and name alone), pretty new Mustangs, etc.  People spend time polishing them and putting on stickers and whatnot.  Frank's car does not look pretty or expensive or fancy, it looks somewhat homemade.  But it's fast! and inspires in other drivers something along the lines of respect and awe and curiosity.  Frank seems to have a reputation for being a crazy or daring or aggressive driver, but not in a bad way, in a fun way! 

We camped at the racetrack, which I prefer to staying at a m/hotel.  It was basically uneventful aside from some mole (I've decided it was) that was poking around on the edge of the tent.  

The sun setting Saturday night over Autobahn:

Camp fires aren't allowed, but I speculate we could bring a little grill or fire pit and cook on and stay warm with that. 

Last weekend we went to Springfield for a friend of mine's farewell to the United Arab Emirates Party.  She took a teaching job in Al Ayn.  Here's is the cake another friend made for her.  Isn't it spectacular?  A very good map of the area, on a very tasty yellow cake!

We spent the afternoon out on the boat on Lake Springfield.  It felt wonderful to be out on the water, in the sun.  

For the first time, I went to a show at the Riverfront in Peoria.  See the bridge in the background?  It was a performance of Hairbanger's Ball, which I did not know, is local to Chicago and plays at the Cubby Bear or something?  It was fun.  I like the Peoria-size of things.  There is breathing-room.  Everyone is not completely on top of each other, like they are at most every event I'd go to in Chicago. 

There's been a neighborhood thief stealing stuff from people's cars in their driveways.  So, as Frank is in charge of security, he's moved all the cars into the garage.  Amazingly, there's room for one big truck...

...one Mustang, two Echos, two bicycles, a riding lawn mower, and a helluva lot of tools...

...all with the door closed! 

We cleaned the garage yesterday.  Can you tell?