RLSH700

LOL! Lots of courses over Marketing and Management.

Not this time. We had canoes. I wish we would have went whitewater rafting instead, something with a little excitement to it. It took 9-10 hours to get done with each river. We spent a day on each. I discovered on the second trip that I have a little problem with my right shoulder due to an old injury.

Jeremiah 29:11

Well my oldest has a Computer Science degree and is working at a High Tech company. I showed him how to buy a 2006 Mustang GT the day after Christmas and he just received his flowmasters today but they were damaged in shipment and so he will ship them back. He lives at home and is very helpful doing choirs. I told him to build up his nest egg before he get married and moves out of the house. Besides the car, a remote control helicopter ($250.00) and his new flowmasters are his only expenses since Christmas so he is doing well.

The toughest part was my youngest will not be living with us anymore but he still has a year of school left.

No, we will not be following them as their High Tech jobs could take them anywhere and I have my own High Tech career I have to deal with.

We have done the best we can with them and I am very proud of them. I have to let go and let them grow up. If I was not around anymore, they would do just fine
and of course they both have God in their hearts.

I have gone from being a supporting parent to a supportive parent and that is the way it should be.

RLSH700

I'm glad to hear your taking this so well. Is your wife taking it well also? My mom has the worst time when I return to school. I keep telling her she needs to get a job to keep herself busy to help her but she doesn't want to. My dad is normally in a bad mood so he is hard to read at times. I know my dad has always wanted to move where I'm currently at but hasn't due to work and for my mom (he must really love her a lot to stay in that stupid town near her nutty relatives...okay rant off).

You sound like you've done a great job as a father. Congrats to you, Jeremiah.

RLSH700

Sometimes our cars just get the better of us and we just have to admit defeat. Which car did you put rotors on the Stratus or the Mirada?

Jeremiah 29:11

Actually, my wife is totally fine with it. I guess I am just a softy that way. The wife actually does work at a school so she keeps busy.

As far as being a father, I just let God help me do that job. You have to love your kids and have a great relationship, show them God's way then you can
put up barriers for them to follow. Most parents these days don't put up barrier and if they do they expect them to follow them without have a great relationship first.

Of course, then kids rebel.

Can you imagine a football game without rules, the game would be in disarray and dangerous and players would get hurt or killed. Well, that is what is happening to our
kids that are not loved (the reason gangs happen is they want to be part of a family) and don't have rules......they are getting killed.

You know when you let yourself be God centered and not self centered, it is amazing how life goes so much smoother and blessings are sent your way.

RLSH700

No that is a sign of a good relationship. My uncle is having a hard time right now because his middle son joined the Army. Make no mistake he is very proud of him and has no problem with him joining (he is very patriotic), but he misses him because they are so close. I think it helps him when I visit him and my aunt because we are also close, similar to best friends.

I completely agree with you about the mistake parents are making. I see people my age who are parents that refuse to set up barriers because they hated how their parents did set up barriers. When they get to be teenagers, they are going to be monsters. In order for the children to feel completely loved they need both parts, regular love and tuff love. Without the other, they are incomplete.

The reason why I never rebelled against my parents was they did set up reasonable barriers and were supportive when I needed them to be. I respected them because I really felt that they were concerned about my best interests because we trusted each other.

One of the best examples I ever got about what your life is like without God was a flower pot example that a pastor showed me in high school (I went to a private H.S.). "The contents of the flower pot is what your life. People who don't have God have an empty flower pot, but they try to fill it up with money, power, materialism, Brittany Spears (we loved that joke) water represents these things which pours out of the holes, but when we have God the soil then we don't have room for money, power, materialism, more Brittany Spears because they are already fulfilled."

1 Bad Mirada

the stratus...i bought fancy slotted/drilled rotors with new ceramic pads, and i painted my calipers...looks nicer now...

i also did alot of work to her truck...new exhaust, "super high flow cat", MSD 6AL ignition and coil, underdrive pulleys, AC delete, electric fans, performance computer, cai...

RLSH700

Nice! are the slotted/drilled rotors for looks or do they help with braking as well.

Sounds like Amanda's truck will be one fun truck to drive. BTW, I know an AC delete improves performance and fuel economy, but what will she do during the summer time, or do you guys live in an area where it doesn't get very hot?

TechmanBD

Damn, her truck must kick arse. Is it 4x4? I miss my 96 Ram I had. It was green, standard cab, 4x4 with the 5.2L. Those are the years I really liked the look of. Now I don't with the newer models.
Now I am depressed[&o]. You made me think of my old truck. I am going to go home and to bed.

1 Bad Mirada

we had several days over 100 here this summer..not hot by techman's standards, but still pretty hot! the stratus has a kickin AC system, and we work from home, so any time that we venture out of the house is usually in the evening...the AC hasnt worked for years either...and the problem to fix the AC is under the dash and to give you an idea of how much of a PITA it is to fix, i think that the dealership charges something liek 6 hours...[:'(] so no AC it is...the compressor is free spinning, so it doesnt take much power if it isnt engaging, which it will not, but that compressor weighs something like 24 pounds, and for drag racing the most damaging weight is over the front wheels...

the stratus brakes were STOCK...and i consider 4.5 years and around 60,000 out of stock brakes, especially considering how i drive, to be pretty good..the OEM rotors are very expensive, and i found this company that sells the "performance" rotors, and it does stop better...

no, it is a 2WD...id like for it to run in the 14s with the stock trans, and the experienced 2nd gen ram racers say that it will run at least high 14s, but i am a pessimist...ill settle for 14.99.

a few weeks ago we took the truck to a REALLY awful local track, and i had put the stock stuff back on, with the intention of getting a baseline, then swapping parts and such, but i forgot the box of parts to swap...it ran 15.50s with the stock computer, stock pulleys, AC, stock ignition, and stock rims with 32" truck tires...we will be running it in a few weeks at a much better track, and it will have 26" drag radials on it, giving it better traction, and the much smaller tires should effectively change the final drive from 392 to 419...which should make a tremendous difference, plus the computer, pulleys, AC delete, and ignition should really help..i have also tuned it up since then..those 15.50s runs were with plugs that were 6 years old...[:'(]