Christopher McKitterick

Notice I don't call it "vacation," and here's why. On the other hand, it sure was a nice break to not have to be "on" for classes all week!

• I've been writing several mornings, every week since mid-December. Completely revised the opening scenes of The Galactic Adventures of Jack & Stella, completely re-envisioned how I'm handling POV (which means significantly rewriting every single other scene, too), wrote many more notes for future scenes, and cut thousands of words while writing thousands more... I've passed a total of 44k words, which means it's more than half-way done (based on a projected 70k)!

• Finished updating all three syllabi and Blackboard sites (that's the web interface for KU courses) for my spring semester classes. Sent all the students links to where their syllabi live online. HOORAY! Good lord, is it just me or does it take everyone most of a day to do this for each course?


• Worked a bunch on the hot-rod Newport, including rebuilding the broken valvetrain; finishing installing the new fuel-injection system; installing half the custom exhaust (with electric cut-outs for added raucousness on demand!); designing a crankcase-ventilation system that won't put so much smoke into the intake and getting started installing that; and finding a great deal on a new front-drive system that'll upgrade the alternator to handle fuel-injection duties, the A/C and power-steering pump to something that works, and convert it to a simpler serpentine-belt system that'll make it more reliable and more efficient - oh, and it's all polished aluminum, so it's much lighter and really pretty, too. ETA for street duty: a week or two! Assuming something else doesn't blow up....


• Did a bit of work on the Chevelle, but I want to get the Newport mobile, washed, waxed, and covered before really diving into this project; picked up some more parts I'll need, though. ETA for street duty: Late spring.


• Rewired a cool vintage ceramic lamp and installed it in the ceiling of my living room. MUCH nicer than the old (light-free) ceiling fan that used to clutter up the space:

• Did a bunch of updates on the Center for the Study of Science Fiction's website, and planned much more. Oh, and we're working with a major donor right now who's intending to support not only a full-ride scholarship for the summer Workshops, but also something even bigger for a student coming to study SF during the regular semester. Details to come....


• Started reading for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best SF novel. Loving everything so far, which is great, but could also be trouble come decision time....


• Got back into astronomy, with a new (to me) 100mm f/9 apochromatic refractor. WOWEE, does it provide gorgeous images! This is my first apochromat, a type of refractor that uses varying types of rare-earth glass to produce lovely, sharp, and color-free images. On a really nice German equatorial mount with dual-axis drives and a handy through-the-polar-axis North Star finder:

• Resumed a regular, hardcore workout schedule at the gym. Tried the beautiful-but-useless fancy fitness center here at KU (Ambler), because it was free to staff & faculty last week; we usually use beat-up, old, and dingy - but free - Robinson, because of its really useful and large free-weights room, and only visited crowded Ambler that once.


• Oh, and on a related note: Not to sound braggy or anything, but over Break the awesome Clevermanka started giving me regular, multi-hour massages at least once a week, sometimes EVERY DAY. OMG, I am so lucky.

Other stuff, too, like watching the new BBC Sherlock series! (Which starts on PBS tonight.) LOVE IT SO MUCH.

What did you do over the past month, whether or not you got a break?

Best,
Chris

Unfortunate news for getting the Newport ready by Saturday's "Rev It Up" car show: This morning I tore into the valvetrain on the affected side (where I had discovered the bent pushrod), and got some news:

• Turns out not one but two pushrods were bent (both on the affected cylinder) - not surprising, what with nowhere for the expanding gases to go when the exhaust valve wasn't opening. (This would explain why I was getting low temperature readings on that part of the exhaust header, as well... more on that in a moment.) But it is surprising when assuming the bending happened while trying to get the new digital MSD setup to fire. My oh my am I glad that I purchased a full set of new pushrods instead of just one. The intake pushrod on the #7 cylinder was bent into such a curve that I had to use a Vice Grip to straighten it enough to remove. Yowza. And as soon as I pulled it out, the ball-end that sits in the lifter just dropped out onto the floor. Thank the Gods of Internal Combustion that it didn't fall off inside the engine when it was running, or this would be a tragic post.
• I removed the full rocker-arm assembly, so I could check the other cylinders' valvetrain, as well. Thanks again that they're all fine.
• The little balls on the ends of the roller-rocker arms (where the cup-ends of the pushrods fit) were pretty galled up, so I had to grind them smooth. The underside of the aluminum rocker for the exhaust valve was really marred, too, but the bearings appear unharmed. Clearly, now, evidence pointed to the engine having run with bent pushrods for a good long time. Eep. (On the plus side, I can't wait to see what kind of power it puts down with 8/8 of the engine running instead of 7/8.)
• I put everything back together, properly assembly-lubed and anti-seize-lubed as appropriate, then torqued as appropriate. Then I went through each rocker-arm assembly and individually set the lash at "pushrod just barely spins when tightened down," as directed for a hydraulic lifter setup.
• With everything buttoned up, I manually rotated the engine through a full 360°, so I could double-check the valve lash before sealing up that valve cover - never assume everything is correctly adjusted after just one set of tests.
• Surprise! The exhaust pushrod on our friendly #7 cylinder? It was sitting loose in the head. How could this be, as I had carefully adjusted it? Well, I loosened the lock-nut, then turned the ball-stud bolt where the pushrod rests on the rocker-arm... and discovered that it wanted another half-inch of adjustment. Now, I may not be perfect at adjusting everything the first time, but a half-inch off? It had just the right amount of rotation when I locked down the nut just a few minutes prior. So I checked the pushrod length, and it's not a half-inch shorter than the others.
• What does that leave? Collapsed lifter is what.

I sincerely doubt I could have destroyed a lifter with a couple of backfires while trying to start the car in my driveway. The (new!) lifter must have been collapsed all along. That would explain why:

1. The rocker-arm could be so badly chewed up.
2. Early tests with a temperature-gun showed #7 to be running cool: Non-firing cylinders don't get hot.
3. The engine always ran a little ragged - I had assumed it was just the semi-radical cam.
4. The timing was so hard to get right.

The first sign something was wrong....
So the car will not be ready for Saturday's car show. Sadness. On the plus side, the broken lifter won't cost much to replace, just a huge amount of time: This task requires pulling off the AC unit, the intake manifold, the valley pan, plus all associated hoses, wires, throttle cables, and so forth. Not a one-day job. On the other plus side, forecasters tell of guaranteed rain on Saturday, so the show might be a bust, anyhow.

Now, off to class. More later -
Chris

I realize that, like many, I've grown lazy about posting cool stuff I find on the internets, using the quick-and-easy Facebook method of sharing instead of posting a proper entry here. So here are a few recent links:

First up: Next Tuesday at 7:30pm in Lawrence's Free State Brewery, I'll be leading a conversation on "Science Fiction: Mythologies for a Changing Age." If you'd like to attend AND eat dinner, I encourage you to get there a bunch early, because the place usually fills up for these events, leaving standing-room only for those who arrive on time. If you just want to hang out and drink one of Free State's fantastic beers, well, come on down when we get started. Details here.

Today, between 4:27 and 4:42, the Cassini spacecraft out at Saturn will take the second-ever photo of Earth from beyond the Earth-Moon system. (The first was the famous "Pale, Blue Dot" shot that Voyager snapped.) The Americas, mid-Atlantic Ocean, and parts of Western Africa will be in the shot. Sure, it'll only be about a pixel wide, so your pretty face will be, um, rather tiny, but this is HISTORY! Get outside and wave at Cassini and Saturn today!

Gunn's upcoming (August 2013) novel Transcendental just got a starred review from Kirkus Reviews that calls it "Gunn's best in years - quite possibly his best ever." What a nice birthday present, wouldn't you say? Beyond being Author Guest of Honor at this year's WorldCon, he just had a collection of essays published, was Guest of Honor at the 2013 SFRA/Eaton Conference, and will see at least two more books published before his next birthday. If only the rest of us could be so awesome at any age.

Earlier this week, I submitted the fourth essay due to various people this summer. This frees me up to write, y'know, MY OWN stuff! Of course, mostly I've been recuperating from the month-long Science Fiction Summer program here at KU - which, don't get me wrong, I love, but being a residential thang where a guy needs to be "on" about 18 hours a day, sucks up a ton of creative juices. Even so, The Galactic Adventures of Jack & Stella - still planning to get it and my previous novel out to the agent later this month.

In related news, I've nearly finished updating my Hot-Rod Newport to using a complete MSD electronics package, including Atomic fuel-injection system, digital distributor, and capacitive-discharge ignition. I'm setting it up to be able to digitally control not only the fuel and spark, but also the timing. This afternoon, I hope to give it a try... *fingers crossed*

This makes me SO HAPPY: Pizza in Space video. Ad astra, little pizza slice!

Today's moment of nostalgia: Pac-Man as existential horror story, by the online comic, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal.

And I leave you with this, me wearing my new scooter helmet (full description of safety mods to come):


Have a great weekend!

Best,
Chris

I did not end up going to WorldCon this year, despite initially having planned to do so; the educational track didn't come together as hoped, so I saved my pennies and simplified the start of the semester by not heading to Chicago for the weekend. Which is too bad, because on Sunday night new KU creative-writing prof Kij Johnson won the Hugo Award for best novella for "The Man Who Bridged the Mist"! This is the same story that also recently won the Nebula Award. That's what I call starting one's teaching career with a bang.

Instead, I had a real vacation weekend. This included writing, of course (further progress on The Adventures of Jack and Stella), tinkering with the vehicles, reading (right now it's the first book of the Harry Potter series and something called, Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos), hanging out with friends, and two more events.

The first, on Saturday, was this year's Greaserama. For the first time at this punk-car-culture event (and its second car-show ever), I drove the hot-rod Newport. Friends Matt and AJ drove over with me. Here we are at the show:



Lots of photos from the show on my website (let me know if you have issues with the gallery - experimenting). At nightfall, we watched a double feature at the Boulevard Drive-in theater where the event is held: "Boulevard Nights" followed by "The Warriors," both circa 1979. Just as the first movie was about to start, everyone fired up their rods' engines and made as much noise as possible. It's not just parental pride when I say it was the loudest bastard out there on Saturday. How do I know? Because not only did Matt and AJ have to back away while I revved the hell out of it, but the roar was actually painful enough that it forced me to cover my ears, and afterward I could hear nothing but a muffled hum for a while: 747s on takeoff have nothing on this beast! Also, one of the car-club members who runs the event, "Weirdo Harold," fell in love with it and invited us to park in their row.

A beautiful (after the rain broke) day out with good friends, awesome cars and bikes, turkey legs and corn dogs, delicious tequila at a double feature in an old-school drive-in... happy-making.

On Sunday, after getting a bunch of work done, I got together with a bunch of friends to celebrate a birthday. Said friends then headed over to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival on Monday, where we practiced archery (only Matt hit the bullseye in 7 shots):



And tested our Mjolnir skills (I rang the bell!):



Then we went to everyone's favorite event at Faire: The Royal Smoker, where ten bucks gets you two drinks, a cigar (or soda), finger-food, and entertainment ranging from baudy humor and music to belly-dance (courtesy Chernobylred). Super-fun weekend!

Yesterday saw another cluster of meetings at work plus class, and same for today. This weekend? I'm going to get SO MUCH WRITING DONE on The Adventures of Jack and Stella, I tell you what!

What'd you do on Labor Day weekend?

Chris

The rush of paper-critiquing before Finals Week has meant I haven't been online much (well, I've been online ALL THE TIME with grading software), so I'm behind on Crossfit reports. On the plus side, I'm fully caught up on grading BEFORE finals start pouring in. *ROCK*

Here's Monday's workout:

• Warmup: Lunges, then jumping lunges. This means take the biggest step you can (3-4 feet for my height), keeping your back-leg knee off the mat, then jump forward, switching which leg is front and which is at the back. Cross the gym, then back again.
• Rowing machine. Just "a quick 500 meters," sez the coach.
• Shrug-kettlebell-lifts. Pick up the kettlebell between your feet and, as fast as you can, pull it up to your chin. Your glutes and thighs should do most of the work ("Squeeze those glutes!"), and shrug your traps to pull up the kettlebell.
• Barbell thrusts. Start with your wrists as flat back as they can go with the barbell just resting on your collar-bone and shoulders, elbows forward, and then THRUST the bar up until your elbows lock, as fast as you can.
• Now add a drop-thrust; that is, as you push up, pretend the weight is really heavy and drop by bending your knees as you launch the bar upward, then stand after it's all the way up. This one sucked for my shoulder; I'm going to substitute something that works those muscles without causing so much rub between clavicle and acromian.
• Box-jumps. The coach gave me a 22-inch wooden box to jump onto; swinging your arms and using your glutes and thighs, LAUNCH up onto the box, brining your knees as high as possible to avoid hitting your shins on the box. Immediately jump backwards, down. Repeat a whole lotta times.
• Fully warmed up and form is good? Now do the WoD:
  • Box-jumps and shrug-kettlebell-lifts.
  • Just three sets: 21 of each, 15 of each, 9 of each, as fast as possible.
  • GO!
  • I can't remember my time, but OMG I was dying during the second set. Interestingly, the third set was easiest.
• Oh, and of course a bunch of warm-down roll-outs using various equipment to stretch the muscle fascia.
• For the first time since I started this insane program, I went home NOT SORE. Whoah, it really does get easier!

So that was Monday. Today's (Wednesday) workout was pretty much the same as Friday's, only with the added complication - after doing tripod-headstands (hands and head support you as you lift your legs) - of trying to do handstands (free-standing with locked elbows holding up your body, toes pointed toward ceiling).

I TOTALLY DID SEVERAL HANDSTANDS.



Despite my frakked-up shoulder.

Last time I did handstands was DURING THE 1980s. NO, REALLY.

Oh, and I finished the WoD (burpees and situps) at least one, maybe two, minutes faster than on Friday.



Oh, and when I came home, I totally banged out a couple sets of pullups using a different grip than I normally use, because the bars at the Lawrence Crossfit gym are straight, and I don't want to embarrass myself with something I can actually do *g*

OH! And we took the Newport, because the guys who run the place are total gearheads. It was much appreciated! They all came pouring out of the gym to see it when we pulled up, and of course the first thing the coach wanted to see was the engine compartment :-D

Now I'm going to have a mimosa and watch a bit of the Dean & Sam Show™ (that would be Supernatural to the uninitiated).

Best,
Chris

It's been lovely so far! Man, I needed a vacation.

First, kicked it off with a visit from a friend I haven't seen in far too long (hi Thomas!) on Thursday evening. Great to see you, man! Miss you!

Just beforehand, my "Science, Technology, and Society" class talked about robots, and the author of one of the stories (Robin Wayne Bailey, plus his wife Diana) paid a visit. The students really enjoyed his being there, and it was a great discussion. As a thank-you, I took them out to dinner at one of my favorite local restaurants, Ingredient, then bid them adieu before joining the Thursday-night crew at Harbour Lights, Lawrence's oldest bar (in continuous operation since the end of Prohibition). Ended the evening with some adventures with a friend who's always up for adventures. Lovely evening.

Spent a fair sum ordering parts for the Chevelle. It's going to be awesome! If only the people from Keisler Engineering get on the ball and update my 6-speed transmission quote so I can get that thing ASAP.

Also worked a bit on the Newport: made an anti-drainback valve for the fuel system in hopes of keeping the gas from running out of the carb back into the tank, so it'll start easier between runnings. If all goes well (haven't been able to test it, as we're enduring 40 days and nights of deluge here in Larryville), I'll put together a little tutorial for how to make one for yourself, saving tons of money if you can even find something that works for a carbureted engine.

The Lawrence St. Patty's Day Parade is always charming, with pretty much everyone in town participating, either by watching or driving in it: If you have a convertible, you're in. And if you ever won a beauty pageant within the past few century or two? Sit in the back of one of those converts! That part was a little weird. It was a beautiful, cool-but-pleasant day, and we sat outside most of the time enjoying good company and conversation. Ended the evening at Matt's place playing old Atari and Nintendo games (remember The Adventures of Link?) on his Wii. Also had a drunken push-up contest - turns out I can do 7 one-armed push-ups with each arm (yes, even with the damaged side) after blasting out 30-odd nose-to-floor knuckle push-ups. Absinthe is a curative. 'Twas a blast.

Got caught up with the current BBC Sherlock series. Wow, but is it amazing: great acting, great actor chemistry, great filming, great writing... just all-around fantastic. LOVE IT.

Also finished Season 2 and started Season 3 of Due South, which is even better with the addition of Callum Keith Rennie. He and Paul Gross (RCMP Constable Benton Fraser) have PERFECT timing. At a few points in their first episode together, I was laughing so hard we had to pause and rewind to hear the dialogue. LOVE IT - how did I miss this series before now? Thank you for introducing me to this often-surreal series, CR!

Getting caught up with reading through more of the mountain of nominations for the Campbell Award. Really loving Ernest Cline's Ready Player One right now: It's well-written, well-conceived, funny, serious, and meaningful. Hope it gets even better; if so, it's probably my favorite book of 2011.

Earlier today, bought my first pair of running shoes since high school, New Balance Minimus MR10 trainers in an astounding green-and-blue color combo. They weigh less than the box they came in! Also got a pair of exercise shorts from Sears at 50% off (yes, Lawrence is losing our Sears *sadness*). I couldn't buy a pair of Nike or New Balance or other corporate-logo shorts. Can't do it.

Why did I need this equipment? Well, right now I'm recovering from the introductory session of CrossFit. WOW, but I'm beat. And I'm beginning to get hints of how sore I'll be tomorrow. I thought I was in decent shape with my regular exercise (weights, pull-ups and push-ups with 25-lb weight vest, heavy bag-work, stair-running, and so on), but boy was I WRONG. They say, "Expect to have a challenging, but short workout that might give you a little reality check on your fitness level." Reality check? CHECK: Kettle ball swings up over the head, lunges, box-leaps, sit-ups, running while carrying a medicine-ball, hardcore stretching... I just about died. Even so, we both decided to sign up for the next step: a 10-session "Elements" punch-card that includes several one-on-one sessions with a personal trainer. Seems like a great workout; can't wait for the next one! (Did I really just write that?)
( trimmed for my most-recent fitness-tracking photos )
I'm in a little better shape right now, but not significantly - that's why I bought the 25-pound weight vest for pull-ups and push-ups and part of why I decided to do CrossFit, because I've been kicking ass for a long time without significant results. I'll take another set of shots after CrossFit to see how this program improves things!

Okay, and now I need to get back to finishing my little 7-questions response for Weaselmom....

Chris

1) Generation X tells the Boomers and kids today to stop their whining. A great article that would be funnier if it weren't so uncomfortably honest.

2) KU tops the International Quidditch Association standings. No, seriously. KU has a Quidditch team, and it's #1 in the world.

3) Last weekend, six of us took a trip out to the Corn Maze of Dooooom, about half an hour from Lawrence, KS. Here's how we got there - and, happily, back! Yes, all of us fit comfortably in the hot-rod Newport! Video proof:

Video courtesy of our documentarian, Alexander Hall.

4) A group at Tel Aviv University using "Quantum Trapping" to produce not only the highest recorded levitation but also DOUBLE levitation. COOOL!

5) Giant prehistoric krakens. Sculpting self-portraits. Using icthyosaur bones. I'M JUST SAYIN'.


Click the image to see the I09 story.

Have a great weekend!

Chris

Everything worked great last night for the 10 or so miles the Newport roared around town. So today I re-torqued the exhaust headers, drained and examined the oil (looks better than expected for a new rebuild!), installed a new K&N oil filter, poured in new synthetic oil, topped off the other fluids, and then fired 'er up to listen through a mechanic's stethoscope for untoward noises. Valves and rockers sound smooth, as do the lifters, and the same with the bottom end.

Doctor says she's ready to roll!

Chris

JUST TOOK THE NEWPORT OUT FOR A SPIN! Woohoo! I flushed and bled the brakes, so now she stops, too (that didn't happen last night during an aborted attempt...).

You need proof? Here you go, parked under the carport after a quick run downtown:



And she kicks ass!



Woohoo!

Chris

For those of you waiting with bated breath for news that the car is up and running - alas, no. Here she sits in the garage right now, all put together but not quite ready to go:



However, she's cooking along and all but ready to drive... except she won't start. Massive amounts of troubleshooting ensued:

Last night I pulled all the plugs to dry out the (flooded) cylinders, and today I compression-checked everything: All cylinders read almost exactly 145 psi compression, even with the big-overlap camp, with no noticeable leakdown (that's better than stock). Got a new coil and assembled the new ceramic plug wires (necessary because some plug boots touch the headers), and getting great spark now. A quick aside about assembling spark-plug wires: The difference between things going smoothly and your emitting great strings of profanity is all about using lots of silicone lubricant on the wire end before trying to push it through the boot. IT WILL NOT GO if you don't use the lube. Trust me. Then wipe it off before folding over the core and crimping on the electrode attachment.

The engine's definitely getting gas, as evidenced by the wet plugs. I even added 10 gallons of new, high-octane gas, in case the 2-year-old stuff in there went bad and was causing trouble - though I did treat it with fuel stabilizer. Some nice explosions out the carb, with attendant fire that needed to be put out, so the gas is burning ;-) Also good news is that it produces nice oil pressure when cranked over the impressively powerful new high-torque mini-starter.

Here's the engine compartment, all assembled. Notice the huge A/C unit up front. That thing weighs a little over 40 pounds, and to get it to fit required my lugging that thing over to the grinder, removing cast iron notches, and repeatedly test-fitting for a couple of hours during last Thursday's thrash to finish for Greaserama. That was a lot of fun. I could barely make a fist the next day!



A few days ago, I pulled a valve cover to test that I had not, in fact, put in the cam 180 degrees off, and it's installed correctly. *whew* I set timing about 10° advanced. Oh, and I tracked down and fixed a few liquid and vacuum leaks - better now than on the road.

Just now went out to test an idea: Maybe advancing the timing a bit more would help. Not so much. *sigh*

Why won't you fire up? Gah! Ideas? Suggestions?

Chris