"You Sexy Thing" by Zella Day

I think this instrument cluster is going to be pretty dammed sexy too!!

I made this mock up in the GIMP (GNU Image editor) to kinda what I want the instrument cluster to look like.  Those are the actual gauges I have, I just made the rainbox panel in the photo editor.  And can I say I wasted WAY TOO MUCH F'ING time doing it!

The dust boot kept catching on fire while I was heating up the A-arm

I was so nervous about that boot being on fire, it was a much bigger fire at times than in these pictures.  Anyway, I was so  nervous I went and got the fire extinguisher that I bought for Lili when she was in the Pride Parade a few years ago.

Finally got the old spindle off

I was so EXCITED when I found RED boots to replace the old ones!!

Oh yeah, you sexy thing!!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhRXOOc_p-0

"You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate

You Sexy Thing!!!

Talia told me the other night that CeCe is the sexiest thing she's seen!  I was like YEAH, she is a sexy thing!!

http://taliakeys.com

I almost always wear a dress, even when I'm working on the car.  I figure I wore pants WAY TOO MUCH in my life.  I need to be me every minute I can.  So I wear a dress or skirt almost all the time!

#Transgender

However, it would be too risky to wear my favorite dresses to work on the car.  I was running out of dresses that I would be okay if some accident were to happen and I ruined the dress,  So I went into  Saver's the yesterday and picked up a few more dresses (Seniors get 30% off on Tuesdays!).

This dress is certainly NOT a dress to work on the car in, being white and all.  But it was so pretty I just had to get it.  It was only like $6 or something like that with the senior discount.

I have been freezing a lot lately, even when it's 75 degrees.  MS is just so FUN!!!

Anyway, since Talia said that about CeCe being the sexiest thing, I totally get that.  She IS a SEXY THING!!

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUY9Y9RFiHY
YouTube (extended): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yA82CFvisw

"Don't Bother Me" by The Beatles

SueZQ took these last night

It felt so good last night, to FINALLY start on the disc brake stuff

Last night I FINALLY started assembling the stuff to convert CeCe to disc brakes!!

Today I masked her to paint the green, orange and brown on the strip between

The front is almost there...

I just have TOO MUCH going on :/   I had so many photos yesterday that I saved a few for today.

SueZQ was playing this song this morning.  So I guess don't bother me, I've got all this stuff to do...

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k03IQbaTcxc

"Double Shot of My Baby's Love" by Swingin' Medallions

The Ammeter I ordered on Amazon and was supposed to be delivered May 6-8

From the expanded tracking it appeared to be stuck in an infinite loop in St. Louis

It finally  arrived today

Along with the other gauges I bought (see my post from last Friday), I bought a VDO ammeter.  Equis doesn't appear to make one.  There aren't may places that make amp meters anymore.  Which is understandable, they really aren't that useful, with a voltmeter is easier to see what the condition of the battery condition is.  However since CeCe had an Charge / Discharge gauge (ammeter) before I decided to still have one.  I guess my OCD kicked in and I didn't want to just short the wires from the old gauge together.

Off topic: I'm certain that my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is significantly improved since I've been on HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy).  My brain absolutely functions better on Estrogen.

#HRT
#HormoneReplacementTherapy
#Transgender

Anyway, so I bought this VDO Ammeter and hooked it in the place where the old "Discharge / Charge" gauge was connected.  And no matter what I did the needle NEVER moved off ZERO (actually I feel like the needle was always slightly to the left of the "0".  I was like WTF?!?!?

Finally after fooling around for quite a while I finally got out my old VOM (Volt-Ohm-Meter) and connected it in series with the VDO ammeter.  Turned on the headlights and Voila, the VOM read around 8 amps.  The needle on the VDO gauge didn't move.

#VOM
#VoltOhmMeter

So then I took the gauge back to O'Reilly, explained it was defective and they ordered a replacement.  When it came in, I got it, wired it in and it behaved exactly the same as the one I returned.  I was really like WTF then.

I contacted VDO's Tech Support and they suggested trying the same things I already tried, with the same results.

I searched O'Reilly's website for a different ammeter, but all the other ones were 60-0-60.  Which I consider even more stupid than having the 30-0-30 ammeter.  Under normal  circumstances you would barely see the needle move.

---

Okay, I have to  tell a side story here: decades ago we had installed Airplane Landing Lights on my brother Brad's Corvair van.  I was driving it home from Univac late one night.  Back then 2200 West from 700 North to 2300 North was almost all just fields (unlike all the buildings there are now) and it was pitch black that night.  So I flipped on those airplane landing lights and it like pegged that ammeter.

#CorvairVan
#AirplaneLandingLights

---

Anyway, I tried the AutoZone website and it was the same, only 60-0-60 Amp Gauges.  So I found this other gauge on Amazon and ordered it.  I almost NEVER care when my packages arrive.  I'm normally like whatever.  But this time I went out and checked the mail several times every day, to see if it had arrived yet.  So it  is ironic that this package ended up with all the freaking problems.  I don't think I understand exactly how it finally got delivered.  It was weird that UPS was involved at some point when it was shipped via USPS.

Anyway, as soon as I got it, I wired it in series with the VDO gauge to see how they compared:

Headlights on Bright, Heater on Full - Amazon ammeter shows 16 amps, VDO shows zero

Ran the battery down for a few minutes, then started car.  Amazon gauge = 8 amps, VDO = zero

Anyway, this morning I was mixing up a batch of rice and beans to have a burrito for breakfast.  I decided since we use the rice and beans mixture up so fast I told SueZQ that I was going to make a double batch.  She said what is that song and I knew immediately that she was referring to this song.  But I couldn't remember who the artist was, so she had to look up who sang it.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk4Rj9WXjko
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57s89xrC93o
YouTube (Topic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUNw1bsRpEs
YouTube (45 RPM): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDEmmLDyHZc

"Does Your Mother Know" by Abba

I just *LOVE* the way my hair looks now it's black

I got three more of the colors painted today

And the Switch Plate... are you detecting a theme??

I put on my new striped bikini today and (I wonder if I have a thing for stripes? Do you think?)  I intended to lay in the sun for a few minutes.  But the cushion for the lounge chair was covered in those stupid fucking seed!!  I tried to  wash it off, but it still seemed kinda gross.  So I decided I would wash CeCe in my bikini.  It was fun!!  I loved it!!

SueZQ came home and commented "It's just like in one of those Hot Rod magazines.  Yeah... except they would have beautiful swimsuit models and not this old woman.  But I do feel beautiful with my hair so nice and BLACK!!!

It was Mother's Day today!  A couple of friends messaged me Mother's Day wishes.  Which is okay.  I don't really identify as my children's mother, because I'm their Father.  So I still  celebrate Father's Day with my kids.  I figure it this way: some fathers are WOMEN and some mothers are MEN!!

#Transgender

One of my lovely transgender friends sent me one of those stupid forward this to 14 people and send it back to me things on Facebook Messenger (twice) today.  This homie don't play dat!!  The sentiment was nice but I just don't dig that pass it along thing.

Plus it talked about MY mother and that brought up my sadness that my mom never got to see or meet me as Rachel.  That is kind of heartbreaking for me.  Sometimes I even cry about it.

This trans friend is a lovely human being but seems to have a talent for sending me things that are upsetting to me.   Like one should not assume all our values are the same because we are both transgender??

First it was a meme that Atheists don't know shit about God.  I don't know that I'm an Atheist per se.  I am VERY anti-Christian religions!  They are absolutely misogynistic, which is absolutely wrong, Wrong, WRONG!!!  I do know for sure there is a power, force in the Universe.  I just don't think of it as God.  If you want to call it God, I'm okay with that.  I think of it more as MAGIC.

But I took offense at the meme she sent.  If you believe in God that's fine, but don't say shit about people who chose not to.  WE ALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHOOSE WHAT WE BELIEVE.  That is one of the things that I find ANNOYING about religious folks, they think they must lay their shit on everybody else!  <Angry Emoticon Here>

Then there was a "news" video promoting the conspiracy theory that the Chinese genetically engineered the Covid-19 virus.  This has been denounced by all sorts of experts that it could NOT have been genetically engineered.

Argh!  I'm just frustrated again.  I just don't need this shit!!!

---

Anyway, to answer Abba's question, my mother didn't know me as Rachel, a woman.  :(

But it's a fun song anyway, I love it!!!

YouTube (Vevo): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkL7Fkigfn8

"Arrow Through Me" by Paul McCartney & Wings

Finally got this ball joint loose, had to apply lots of heat again

Note my trusty Shecock and the Rock Princess lighter!  I just love lighting up with it!!

https://www.shecock.band/

https://shecock.bandcamp.com/

This heat exchanger has so many sharp edges to slice up my hands

I decided to remove it before working on the grill

I decided to remove the grill and paint the strip of body between the grill and the bumper.  But the heat exchanger for the air conditioner has so many sharp edges to accidentally cut my hands on, I decided to remove it first.  There is no A/C compressor so the A/C wouldn't work anyway.  Unlikely it would work after 52 years anyway.

The grill and headlight bezels are out of the way now.

Now I can finish the Pride Flag on the front

Found somebody's old oil rag in the corner by the battery

I know when I'm working on the car I'm usually not wearing heels :(
But at least they are RED!  :)

Last but not least - finishing up  the switch plate

One of my very favorite Paul McCartney songs!  When I was creating my post on Wednesday about Trump's visit to the mask factory and the songs about dying that played in the background, I thought about Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" that was played.  But I already posted it on 17-July-2013 in my old "Scott's" blog before I stopped trying to pretend I was a man.

#Transgender

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzA-ZuGGJzk
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zcYw3f2k44

"She Fades Away" by Alphaville

The lawn mower wouldn't run today.  Digging that old grass out was gross.

Making progress on painting the Switch Plate

Getting ready to break loose that lower ball joint

No success yet.  Damn these are a pain in the ass... or hands at the case may be

Cutting out the holes for the gauges

These are going to be so... SEXY!!

This is one of my favorite Alphaville songs...

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmC4j-JN0hE
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RgrttqY91w

Too weird bra for me!!

I saw this weird bra thing on Twitter or Instagram and was curious.  It took so long to arrive I had forgotten all about it.  I put it on and it completely weirded me out!  Creepy!!  I decided I'm fine with bras that are about the same as my grandmother wore (not as pointy LOL!!).

In point of fact I remember trying on my grandmother's bras  :D

#Transgender