From the Ashes

Failed Smog Test in California

phoeniix — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:55:41 +0000

I recently failed my smog test in my 1995 Civic EX. I have 175k miles on the car and my catalytic converter needs replacing. I didnt want to spend $1000′s of dollars making all the necessary repairs so I spoke with my neighbor who messes with cars. He suggested to try the following:

The most important thing to do before going to get smogged, is to get your engine and exhaust system hot. Drive around for 30 minutes in 4th gear to flush out extra particles.
Replace your spark plugs. If a plug isn’t firing properly your going to have much more than just exhaust coming out.
Replace your air filter.
Run though one tank of gas with fuel system cleaner.
Fill up the tank with premium gas before going to get smogged.

Some other things to try are:

Replace the fuel filter to ensure that only gas is getting combusted.
Get an oil change.

For me, doing steps 1-5 helped me pass my smog test. I only passed by one point, but that gets me through another 2 years before having to address this again.

The Phoeniix

phoeniix — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:49:54 +0000

A quick summary of the Phoenix…

Tell it like it is

phoeniix — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 03:11:36 +0000

I don’t remember this book growing up… Children’s Book

Follow up to My Fatigue

phoeniix — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 02:14:17 +0000

This is a follow-up to my post a few months ago regarding my fatigue. Although the B-Vitamins did help some, they seemed to only relieve the symptoms temporarily.

I started to suspect that it was my diet although I had no idea where to start. A few articles online led me to the idea of a food alergy. Researching that, I found that anyone can have alergies to all kinds of foods. I took a look at what I eat on a daily basis and I concluded that I eat wheat and dairy products every day. This was interesting because I have eaten cereal with milk everyday since I can remember and I have been tired for the past 10 or so years since age 21.

Taking a “risk” I switched to oatmeal or soymilk for my morning meals. It took a few weeks to notice something but now instead of being tired every day, I’m tired and exhausted only one or two days a week.

This has drastically changed how I live and helped at my job too. I still eat cheese every other day, but I suspect that the sheer quantities of dairy I was consuming may have hurt. I am probably lactose intolerant and this food allergy doesn’t help.

Reading further articles I found that adults dont need milk. This is sort of what I blindly thought.

I’m also experimenting with lowering my wheat intake but that doesnt seem to make such a difference.

Wash your vegetables

phoeniix — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 20:23:36 +0000

I learned just recently that I should wash my vegetables with a citrus based vegetable wash. I never thought about this before. I have been perfectly content holding my vegetables under the faucet washing off what I thought was other people’s finger grease. My wife used Magnawash vegetable wash one night on our zucchini and cabbage and showed me the bowl full of water, vegetables and a disgusting layer of what appeared to be oils and hairs and all other sorts of foul materials floating on top. That was enough for me. I’m sold, “Wow we should use this every night”, I said.

If you are interested in obtaining Magnawash for your store, please visit Saison Trading – An organic product wholesaler, email contact (at) saisontrading.com, or call 1-619-294-3075 for more information. If you live near the San Diego Metro area, Magnawash can be found at the friendly Nijiya Japanese Marketplace in Kearny Mesa.

Nijiya Market
(858) 268-3821
3860 Convoy St # 109
San Diego, CA 92111

Xbox 360

phoeniix — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 00:23:04 +0000

Last week I obtained two of the much Hyped Xbox 360′s. It started at 10pm in line at Frys in San Diego on November 21st. When I first got in line there were a good 70 some people in front of me. Throughout the night many people left realizing its rediculous to freeze your hind quarters off for a gaming console. I must say I didnt get any sleep that night but 9 hours sure went by fast. A guy in front of me took down names on a sheet and it was a good thing he did, because not only did Fry’s honor that list a few people tried to cut. Needless to say I walked away with a lighter wallet, two xboxes and 8 games. One of the consoles and one game sold on ebay two days later for 780 to some kid in Oklahoma who was unfortunate to get one; He was able to play Call of Duty 2 the next day. I only paid 460 for them. I would say though that it really wasnt worth freezing to get one of these cherished items. I probably should have stayed home.

Marcy Warky Schroedery Grout

phoeniix — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 23:38:43 +0000

Marcy Warky Schroedery Grout-
He would not take the recycling out.
And from the box the cans did spout
And they fell on the floor all about.
Then Todd began to fume and pout.
But still Marcy Warky would
not take the recycling out.

Cans coke and mountain dew.
Diet pepsi, at least a few.
Old Indian food boxes and
Wasabi snacks. Tea and chocolate
and 7up. Brisk iced tea and
that’s not all. A few dried fruit cartons
crumpled in a ball.

All these things were strewn about.
Ann Marie and Karin were both grossed out.
They said to Marcy, take that stuff away far!
Or we’ll take our case right to HR,
And tell Joe and Misti you’re bad and lazy
and so much more (maybe a little crazy).
And then you’ll have to find work in a store.
Like WalMart or KMart, or even Frys.
Sports Chalet, Ashoka, Super Sergios
will bring tears to your eyes.

And so Marc finally wised up,
and went to get rid of the stuff.
But when he tried to lift it, his
strength wasn’t enough.
He hurt his back and now sits sort of funny.
And so Marc sits today, freaked out and all stressy.
Under a pile of recycling because he was messy.

Vegetarian in San Diego

phoeniix — Wed, 19 Oct 2005 21:12:08 +0000

There is a wonderful vegetarian Indian buffet in San Diego. Its part of a 10,000 sq. foot Indian grocery. They have all sorts of wonderful indian foods and deserts at $6.95 for a lunch buffet. For more information about this delicious place for vegetarians see the information below.

Ker Inc (Little India)
Black Mountain Road, San Diego, CA92126
(858) 566-5522

99 Dodge Ram 1500 5.2L Quad Cab Manual Transmission Problem

phoeniix — Sun, 21 Aug 2005 20:52:44 +0000

My check engine light came on after towing a boat and a uhaul a few hundred miles. My truck has 70k miles on it so its not suprising. The symptom my truck was having was when letting off the gas the truck would jerk forward and backwards. I just got the clutch replaced so I thought maybe there was something wrong with that. I thought I better see if the check engine light was the problem first because thats usually some cheap sensor that went bad. So I bought a diagnostic computer from Auto Zone and hooked it up to the OBD II port. It came back with error Code P0121
TPS / Pedal Position Sensor A
CKT Range / Perf

So after doing some research online, I went to Napa and bought the OEM TPS for 49 bucks with tax, Its attached to the air intake manifold on top of the 5.2 L engine and walla! That solved my problem. The truck is riding like brand new.

My beautiful princess

phoeniix — Sat, 02 Jul 2005 03:41:42 +0000

A few weeks ago I met the most amazing girl. Shes from Japan and very pretty. I love talking with her and hanging out with her. We will hang out all weekend for the fourth of July. One day I will post a picture of her so the whole world can see her pretty face!

Kisses my sweet!