Confession is good for the soul so here is mine.........

Good evening Manny,

Maybe a future upgrade then - a different head! I must always, always, always remember that I am wanting a solid, reliable build and that I must have confidence and respect for your abilities in this matter. I'm sure it would be possible to hit the number but it might not be a safe mod in the end and that is worth so much more to me in the end. I want a engine that is going to give me many years of enjoyment and if it doesn't reach an even number in the end who cares!! It will mindblowing whereever it ends up after the project is completed.

Actually, I think it may be something akin to my weight. 200 or 199, it is a mental thing but makes no difference in how I feel or how my clothes fit. 799.9 or 800.1 rwhp would not make any noticable difference to a driver like me, nor probably for that matter 780 to 800.......like my weight it is just a number and does not really reflect anything as the difference is too small.

Yes, it is a bit of a shock and a bit of a disappointment but in this case I have no regrets at all and I am glad that we tried to see what might have been possible between us rather than having thought later in life about about what might have been instead.

Maybe it will be a temporary thing, maybe in 6 months or a year we'll see how we are feeling and will go from there. Maybe when my parenting demands are a bit different we can re-evaluate things then. But I love and respect my gf too much to not allow her to make this decision and to support her as best I can as I know it could not have been an easy one for her to have reached.

And if nothing else happens, I know that I am a much better man and person as a result of the love that she showed for me over the past two years. She was the breath of fresh air that I needed when I was having trouble breathing...........

Cheers,

Garry

Good morning Riley,

It is even better, 198 lb this morning! It is so nice nice nice! And to get some breathing room away from the 200 mark as well, sweet.

So today may be the day of days for my car. I have been quietly excited since Manny posting that thought. I will be on pins and needles all day I expect.

My gf is still here. We've talked a bit more about things. Sadly she is focused on some (very trivial) issues and not able to look at the big picture and see overall how good things are between us and how she is better off and benefits from being here.

But I have always had a firm rule that if one is unhappy in a relationship and unable to see any way of resolving whatever problems you have then out of self-respect you need to get out. I felt that way when my ex-wife left. If she wasn't happy I am glad that she is gone but she could have achieved that outcome with a great deal more class than she did.

I wonder if now she is realizing what she has done and is having second thoughts? I told her even in early Dec. if she was not happy and was bringing grief and drama into my life and home she would have to leave and she has been fuming about that since which is what brought us to the point this week when she said that she was going to move out. But I would never want to be with a person who was compromising themselves to be with me if they were not fully happy with the situation.

As well maybe she has unrealistic expectations of what a relationship should consist of. She has this pie in the sky ideals of relationships and two divorces, dating others and myself she has not found them yet. So maybe she needs to think about re-evaluating the criteria she uses in judging the relationship.............?

At any rate heres hoping that car gets on the dyno today!!

Cheers,

Garry

Good morning,

Yes, it is no doubt proving to be a challenge. Mom tells me that, like my dad, I am uncompromising. I think that this is true. My gf's issues stem around some of the aspects of my relationship with my son. However, these are things that my son and I were doing that were good for our relationship and so she was aware of these things before she moved in with us. I do understand how she feels but I don't feel that it is fair nor correct that now after the fact she wants these things to change because she is here.

When my gf got divorced the 1st time she had her children with her outside of odd weekends perhaps and times during the summer and as I only have my son for 6 of 14 day cycle I need to be forgiven for making the time with my son my priority.

But again I need to emphasise that this is the way we were doing things BEFORE she came into our lives and it suits my son and I and I am sorry if she feels slighted. The time to make these calls is before you move in and not after.

And these things are going to change too I am not so oblivious that I think that these aspects of my relationship with my son are always going to be this way. But until they do I am going to enjoy the extra time it gives me with my son and the extra time to interact with him and for that I make no appology. Unlike so many who pay lip service to "my kids are the most import thing in my life" I actually live my life by this.

Just as I know that I have to put aspects of my life on hold until my son leaves home but these were considerations I was aware of and was prepared to live with prior to becoming a parent.

My gf is a terrific woman and good for me and great with my son as well so lets be clear about that too. I might not have gone through with the surgery if she hadn't done the leg work on that for us and this includes how it has changed mom's life as well.

Her concern, if you can imagine, would be that I was going to throw her out and want her gone like within hours. I thought to myself if you haven't come to know me better than that after two years we really do have some problems. I told her that if she ever did leave (this is back in early Dec) she was free to choose the timing and that she was under no pressure and she could leave her things here until she was settled (I had to buy a SeaCan to store most of her things and things that I moved out of the house to make room for some of her things.......) and that I would help her to move her things.

My life has been better from her being in it and if it turns out not to be forever I take from it a lot of very positive results and memories.

Hopefully the guys are working on the flipdrive!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers,

Garry

Good morning Manny,

How intricate! It looks pretty (and impressive too).

I hope that Arun will not be feeling poorly for long. If your weather is as nice as ours is right now you don't want to be in bed at all. Please wish him a speedy recovery from this ailment.

I appreciate the update as well. No pins and needles any longer today for me!

You and the crew must be exhausted after the car show and a good weekend of rest is in order I'm sure. I never read specifically but I hope that the show was a resounding success for you.

Cheers,

Garry

Good morning Manny,

I always bow my head to a person who is smart enough to know when to take a break.

I know the Dasilva's have been there before so you must like it a lot. Have a wonderful time, rest, recharge and I hope you will return invigorated and fresh.

Send a picture or two if you can - let us know what we're missing out. White snow, white sand, is there a difference?!

Cheers,

Garry

Good afternoon Colin,

Thanks! I'm sure the car is surrounded by love but like all of us you can never have enough.

I never knew that 12 psi was going to be a hard turn for the SC but I am glad that they are going to this modification to make sure they can hit that target and as well not result in frequent water pump bearing changes!!

It has taken three days for some reason but being below 200 is finally sinking in. I think that 199 three days ago was a situation of thinking it might be a blip and then 199 again but 198 this morning gives a pound of slipup so that is a nice feeling. Sadly the long weekends with my son are when I can be prone to snacking but I made a deal with my son if he wants to see about new Pokemon cards he needs to go for exercise with me on the dike tomorrow 1st!!

I still am thinking about using some AirMiles to come down for two or three days before bringing the car home. Enjoy Ontario weather, experience the car and then have a cooling off period to adjust to what it will be like. Sort of get the stupid moves out of my system before the drive home. I'll have to see how things progress in my schedule over the next few weeks along with your weather.

Were you able to get a dekko at the "Mystery Build and it's associated parts".........?

Cheers,

Garry

Good morning,

Not much new. 197 now. It is more starting to sink it that this has happened. Oddit took a few days of being below 200 before it would happen. I guess I didn't want it to be a glitch or anything but it appears a solid move.

My gf is 179 which is territory she has not been at for a few years too so we were really rejoicing about this.

Under the category of challenging, my ex-wife's b'day so taking my son shopping to get a present for her (and yes one from me as well) and then baking her a cake to be delivered today. But I'm not sure that I ever mentioned that I love to cook and bake so it is something that I enjoy doing regardless of who it is for. Best invention ever - my KitcheAid mixer! Awesome for making mashed potatos as well!!

So hoping today will be dyno day. Sure hope Arun is feeling better and Manny is getting toasty and tanned. It will be so nice whenever to see the dyno run and the results. A bit of a road to end up here finally but certainly one of the more interesting in my life and so much fun to be sharing with you all.

Sounds like my gf has found a place. But we're getting along better now that the decision has been made which is not unexpected. I'm sure it will end up being a good move in the end for us both. Sad, but maybe it will allow us to have some perspective on things.

And to add to a previous thread, yes, I was able to break 20 km/hr sprinting my final 200 m, 20.6 km/hr actually. I've been curtailing the running for a few days now but might do more this week. The weather on the weekend was fantastic but now we're going to a week of slightly below normal, but in the -5 to -15 range which without wind is still decent.

Cheers,

Garry

Good morning Riley,

All the changes are positive actually. My gf and I are getting along better now than in the previous two months. She had some problems, needed to make a decision, made it and we are moving on. It will probably be a good thing for us. She has started packing up her things but life otherwise between us is good indeed.

Hit 196 now. Odd that in 8 days even at this weight I have dropped 4 lb. Hard to believe that there are still pockets of fat on my body and that they can be convinced to give themselves up.

It sure feels strange though. My gf is now 54 lb lighter as well and we were laughing last night how lucky we both are to have undergone the surgery and how well it is working for us both.

I am glad for us both that we were able to talk about our relationship and to look for a solution rather than stickin git out and possibly having the relationship end badly.

I had a great day yesterday, logged in over 16 km but it is colder and right now windy so it looks like it will be a TM day which is always a lot harder to do for me.

Cheers,

Garry

Good morning,

Miserably windy here yesterday, -15 plus a 20 to 25 km/hr wind from the north = not a nice day outside. The wind blew all day as well so it was a treadmill day. I logged in 6.6 miles at 4.4 mph which was up from the previous few weeks speed wise, it had been 4.3 mph. It sheened me up which was good for me as it meant I was working harder.

Very unexpectidly, as I didn't think I had the best day yesterday, I was 195 lb this morning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These last 5 lbs that I've lost have been a long easier and more rapid that I was thinking given that I am getting somewhat low (I hope) on body fat. I was actually thinking I'd be 197 again and have not held 196 so it really shocked me and was one of the few times I actually had to get off and on the scale again to check. And it can't be due to the batteries needing charging yet either!!

So now I actually have to start giving serious thought about where I want to level off at as I had considered between 180 and 200 and I'm in that range now. Of course I'd like to break 189 to have a new personal low and maybe even see 180 displayed but I'm just unsure if that if where I want to stay just yet.

I feel some days as if I am using up all the luck in the world and I need to be sharing it more with others who need a good dose themselves.

It's -14 with a 13 km/hr breeze but I'm going to risk going outside and seeing if I can do 400 m ovals in between the trees in front of my place, sometimes I can get good shelter from the wind there. At the very least if I can get some distance in to have less to do on the treadmill that will help me out.

I was awake for two hours this morning. My gf starts to move out next weekend and it is really now hitting home. It will be a less happy house without her in it. But if she will be happier as a result I will be glad for her in the end.

Cheers,

Garry