"Humpty Dumpty Heart" by Hank Thompson

Can all the kings horses and all the kings men ever put CeCe back together again?

I finished taking apart the dashboard today.  It was a kind of a nightmare, at least with the way my hands are with the MS.  This video was certainly a help, but it sounded much easier in the video than it was for me.  I had a terrible time removing the switch plate.  The right end came out pretty easily but the left was stuck good!  I finally shoved some metal putty knives between the switch plate and the padded dashboard that surrounds it and it finally came out.  But removing the nuts behind the dashboard, that held that padded piece, was horrific!  Certainly some of that could be attributed to the dysfunction of my hands from the MS.

#FuckMS

This is the video on YouTube that shows how to take the dash apart:

YouTube (dash cluster removal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uckw-_mObeU

I very much remember my dad playing this song when I was a kid.  We thought it was fun with the Humpty Dumpty reference!

These videos all sound like different versions to me.  The second one sounds closest to the one I remember, except it sounds like it has that fake echo they used to simulate stereo in places.

YouTube (Topic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63B_mnrsRGc
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2pjfbHdfA4
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGGI9dOqaX4
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTCBt5l_fZY
YouTube (live TV): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgSdBInkzKg

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I forgot to say yesterday that the Disk Brake Conversion kit arrived (in three very heavy boxes!).  I even dropped the one box.  Not very far, so hopefully it wasn't damaged.

"Love, In Itself" by Depeche Mode

The car stereo opened up

And put back together

In my blog post on Monday I forgot to include the photos of the inside of the car stereo and with it put back together.  That Depeche Mode CD was the one that was in it when I took it apart.

When this song came on I remembered what a great song it is.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pi_egc6qkY
YouTube (live TV): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIbmJNm8NAo
YouTube (live TV): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01oLOIBoVUo

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Someday I need to sort through all the reel-to-reel tapes

Now I can see the temperature outside from my bedroom window

#ReelToReel

I have been frustrated by the temperature that the weather on my phone said it was and then going outside and it felt much different (like freezing).  Now I can just look out my bedroom window and see what the temperature is.  Plus I can see it in the driveway.

"Rain" by Dragon

I knew it was going to rain today, so last night I painted the blue stripe on the trunk

and the top blue stripe of the Trans Pride flag on driver's side doors

So this is the "rain song" I was trying to think of on Monday, but I couldn't remember who it was by.  Then it just popped up today.  Originally played on KCGL, I was so excited when I found this at Modified Records.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM7RcgZ1pLE
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTMj2WuUlaY
YouTube (extended): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRO5P1i3b3w

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It never occurred to me that the output of these UPS's wouldn't be a sine wave

So our old UPS just freaked out yesterday!  I assume the battery finally failed, but it just continuously screamed anytime it was turned on.

But while I was trying to decide what the hell was plugged into that old UPS and what was plugged into the newer one, I decided I had to do something about the rats nest of wires I have:

Just too many freakin' wires! (This is not all of them)

Somewhat of an improvement

And I added labels to some of the power cords

"Here Comes The Rain Again" by Eurythmics

How to remove the front of the stereo

To open the case: remove the 3 screws, slide bottom forward and lift top up 

I had the car stereo sitting on the floor of CeCe and I had some screws sitting on top of it.  When I picked them up they felt wet.  I thought "that's weird"!  So I felt the top of the stereo and it was all wet.  I unplugged it immediately and then removed the face.  There was some water under the face.  I was then worried that it might have gotten water inside the stereo.  I wasn't about to wait weeks for it to dry out just in case so I decided to open it up and look inside.

I found the videos below that showed how, but it was in three parts, with a LOT of explanation.  So I made the photos above to see how to quickly take it apart.

Note: I did not find any water inside.

And I did finally get it attached under the dash tonight

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzFnYcIqj6I

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Here are the original videos that show how to disassemble a Pioneer car stereo similar to mine:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVxZAWH7iNs
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsKBVZBeW18
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nueTHCAvZ3c

"Crying" by Roy Orbison

LGBTQ Nation: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2020/04/transgender-woman-found-stabbed-death-baltimore/

Washington Blade: https://www.washingtonblade.com/2020/04/17/transgender-woman-stabbed-to-death-in-baltimore/

Sofia Scott  had posted this on Facebook today.  It made me cry.  The one article says it's at least the sixth trans-woman to be killed in the U.S. this year.  Why?....WHY!?  It's heartbreaking, that a beautiful person lost her life just because she was being herself.  This is just so WRONG!!!!  I just don't know what to say anymore, all I keep doing is crying...

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNdBLBleO90
YouTube (Vevo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLC9o_unLq4
YouTube (live): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70vaj-AK4kE

"Who Are You?" by The Who

ID Tag in the engine compartment of the Plymouth

I took a picture of this ID tag hoping that it would tell me what engine is in CeCe. I had no clue how to interpret it (and still don't for the most part).

So then I tried one VIN decoder site and it insisted that a VIN had to be 17 characters, CeCe's is only 13.  They weren't in 1968 so I found this website that gives instructions for all  the different years of Chryslers:

https://www.allpar.com/mopar/vin-decoder.html

VIN decoding table

So decoding RH41F8G219225:

R = Satellite
H = High Price Class - Wow, really?
4 = 4 Doors
1 = Sedan
F = (see engine chart)
8 = 1968
G = built in St. Louis
219225 = 119225th car built

Engine decoding chart

So CeCe has a 318 two barrel carburetor, which is what I thought.

One of my favorite songs by The Who:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYb_nqU_43w
YouTube (promo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNbBDrceCy8

Every now and then I treat myself to a real Coke, the real "Real Thing"!

"Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" by US3

I painted every other stripe this time so there was no taping

Because of the trouble I had with masking the green stripe on the hood (see my post from Tuesday) I decide it would be more efficient to paint every other stripe and then give them time to dry before putting masking tape on them to paint the stripes next to them.

Saw this car going into Jitter Bug Coffee today, I like their stickers

SueZQ was playing this song today and I couldn't remember what it was, so I had to ask her.  I was like "Oh yeah, I always loved this tune!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwBjhBL9G6U

"Rainy Day People" by Gordon Lightfoot

We had another aftershock last night.  I was worried about bricks falling on CeCe

So I parked her on the other side of the driveway, which is sunk down and the car was tilted 

I loved the way the raindrops ran off the freshly waxed hood

I finished painting the Trans Pride flag on the passenger doors last night

These 4.2 aftershocks are pretty nasty!  Every time one happens I wonder if this is going the "The Big One".  Like is one of the aftershocks going to trigger the Wasatch Fault?

Gotta love Gordon Lightfoot!  So many great songs!!!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phcDgM2Mazk
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdhRhGX3AG4
YouTube (vinyl): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBV-glyM1UY

"Green Grass" by Gary Lewis & the Playboys

Marks left in the green stripe by masking before the paint had completely dried

I got in a rush to paint the yellow stripe and it hadn't occurred to me that the green paint had not had time to dry completely.  So it left tape marks in all the places the arrows point and fine ridges in the paint all around the yellow stripe.  And they looked even worse after I waxed the hood.

I was really dreading having to repaint the green stripe, so yesterday I thought maybe I could sand the ridges and marks out and make it look better.  I got some 600 and 1500 sandpaper and gave it a try.

It's not easy being green

I put some wax on it today, if you look close you can kinda tell it's a little dull where I sanded, but it looks much better than it did with all those marks and ridges!

It turns out this is my 1300th published post in my Rachel's blog!  (I'm still filling in my older missing posts back to  September 2017.)   Added to the over 1,000 published posts in my old (before I transitioned) blog, that makes over 2,300 songs / posts.

Gary Lewis and the Playboys was one of my favorite bands when I was a kid.  As I mentioned in my post back on 5-Dec-2018 the first album I ever bought with my own money was their "This Diamond Ring" album.

This first video made me pretty nostalgic:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bsWnwvD11s
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZYE1TIxGMA
YouTube (Topic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNOkISxemlk

I thought this was pretty funny:

SueZQ accidentally took this when I was showing her how to take a picture with my Android phone

"Here Comes Trouble" by 3 One Oh

Trying to figure out how to do the stripes on the trunk

I got frustrated, it felt like I had more trouble with the trackball and the editor

I'm obviously on the "every other day" plan.  I had a pretty good on Thursday.  Friday was bad.  Saturday pretty good.  Today was pretty nasty.  The weather app on my phone said it was almost 50 degrees (F), but every time I went outside it felt more like 30 degrees.  I suppose it could have been my body temperature was just screwed up.  It happens sometimes where I can't get warm, no matter what.  There have been times where I cranked the space heater in my room to 75 crawled under the covers and still felt like I was freezing.  MS, so many fun "features"!!

#FuckMS

I wanted to get the final pink stripe for the Trans flag painted on the passenger doors and start on the stripes on the trunk today, but between the cold and the gusty wind that didn't happen.  I sat inside for a while listening to  Talia Keys and The Love's "We're Here" CD and trying to make a bracket for the car stereo out of plumber's tape.

#Transgender

And just to add that final touch to my day, one of the birds (I suspect one of the crows) took the biggest dump on CeCe that I think I've ever seen.  I swear it was like 3 inches in diameter.  I thought I took a picture of it  I love the birdies, but I wish they would stop shitting on my car.  I've washed CeCe 3 times in the last few days.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVyvho6nwJo

Oh and lastly, the new battery I ordered for my LG G4 phone came on Easter Sunday... weird!!  SueZQ commented that at least they found a box big enough for it:

"Pieces of Clay" by Mae Moore

What you don't want to see looking out your front door

Found my old iPod Shuffle

I found my old iPod shuffle today.   After I charged it, this was the first song it played.  I was really surprised I never posted it, just love this song.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeOYYRScGsg

Oh yeah, we have no idea what was going on across the street.

"You Need a Man" by Loggins and Messina

BASF C60 Cassette - Type I

Track listing for my "Best of All #30" cassette

#BestOfAll

Some weeks ago a person messaged me on Facebook and asked if I was transgender.  Well YEAH!  Then they told me... I actually can't remember exactly how they put it, but they wanted to be a girl?  Anyway, as time went by, the conversation became sexual.  Anyway, they said something this morning that kinda freaked me out.  It wasn't a bad thing, just not...

Anyway, I've been working on making a track listing for this cassette tape above.  And then this, the final song on the cassette came on and I had to laugh!!  It said it perfectly: You need a MAN!

The funny thing was, SueZQ was just playing this song on her iPod yesterday.  I mentioned it to her and we both agreed: she does need a man!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2gTa8mG3Vo
YouTube (short?): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwOIH9bs3e4
YouTube (live 2005): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz7nfMzec98

"Crawling From The Wreckage" by Dave Edmunds

I thought I lost the set of keys to CeCe with the tag and pink high-heel 

I feel like a train wreck most of the time!  I constantly lose or misplace so many things.  I swear I spend half my life searching for things I've misplaced or lost.  I still haven't found the original set of keys I had to CeCe.

I thought I had lost my keys to CeCe a few days ago.  So I went and had the ones on the right in the photo above.  Then today I found them in the bag of tools I've been using to install the car stereo in CeCe.  I decided that the one with the rubber head is easier to use, so I'm using that set for my main keys.

#LostKeys

Sue was pounding on the kitchen table and I opened my door and sang "I Hear You Knocking".  She named a different artist and I said I thought it was Dave Edmunds, but given how bad my memory is these days I wasn't 100% certain.

I checked and my memory was correct.  I already posted that song back on 17-May-2016.  But it reminded me of this song.  My friend Joe Stohl is the one who first told me about this song.  He said he always played it when he woke up with a bad hangover.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrURe9s572I
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SqpsrU_2AY
YouTube (live TV): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPI8RHfL5UY
YouTube (Car Crashes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4p8RYoJ9DQ

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I had to laugh at what YouTube's captioning did to Don Jr's name! 

Lies about Black Lives Matter

Total bullshit about transgender people

Really?!?!?!?

I watched the "Last Week Tonight" story about "One American Network" today.  Just nasty, idiotic right wing, conservative BULLSHIT!!!  No wonder it's  Trump's favorite network.

#Transgender
#BlackLivesMatter
#ConservativeBullshit

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnSILVWDKL8

As a side note I noticed this is my 1288th published post as Rachel.  Added to the 1016 currently in my old Scott's blog that makes 2,304 songs / posts as of today.

"I'm Just Your Fool" by Buddy & Ella Johnson

I'm putting the dragonfly my friend Liz gave me into CeCe

Threw out a bunch of old 8" floppy discs that got all icky

#FloppyDisks

I was trying to find an old "I'm Your Fool" song that I could hear in my head, but I couldn't find it on YouTube.  But this song popped up and it's pretty fun!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTTFyLsvBOc