Stay Tuned  

Ya never know.

I had wondered about what you might call a campus. Now I see this. I will one day be there. as I live so close to start out with. Great Balls of Fire!

More madness 

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You got that right, Dave.  1963 I think it was 

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The VW was an exercise in poor judgment on the part of the neighbor's son 

If you had noticed that the Earth had a little wobble on the axis lately, we did move a lot of dirt.  Behold....Mount Justin.
Along with a stack of materials that arrived.

Hi Ronnie:

If you do take the big drive to the autonerdz training center swing by and pick me up[smiley=evilgrin.gif]

I know we would have enough stuff to talk about all the way there

We could make this an autonedz gathering

A couple more pics of the progress......

Thanks Mick.  Yeah we like it here.  Back of the beaten path a bit, but still close in with enough space to rattle around a bit.

The post and frame construction has become quite popular around here.  Here is some more progress.  Starting to take shape now...

The pour....

Hey where the large Autonerdz insignia imprinted in the floor?

Looks great so far

Sam

The basic building is finished.  Now all the other work starts.   

The contractor for this project was Town & Country:

http://www.permabilt.com/index.php

We have had a good experience with the way this was handled.  The sales rep, Russ Bogar, has been a good listener and responsive to concerns that came up during the whole process.

The actual builder was Butch and Dave's Pole Barns

360-359-8534  Butch
360-280-5999  Dave

These guys are pros.  Great guys too.  I would recommend them to anyone in the local area for this type of project.

Hi Ronnie,

The concrete slab is not the foundation.  A post and frame structure doesn't even need a cement floor.  It could just be left gravel or whatever.  The posts are the foundation.  I suppose the pour could be done at any time after the posts and boards are on to frame the slab but pouring after roof and all allows it to be done in any weather.  It was pouring rain the day of the pour and it would not have been possible to get a nice floor in the rain.   

What kind of lift did you put in your building?  I have not chosen a lift yet.

Hi Tom.

Due to my low ceiling height I chose a asymmetrical bar type overhead with 7 ft, clearance.I have had trouble with some Pick-up trucks but for the most part it works out well.If I had to do it over again I would have chosen a conventional lift most preferably a Rotary brand as the long pick-ups have a awful lot of truck hanging off of the rear and it kinda scares me at times,of course that would have limited my extension height and could not lift to full capacity.Your ceiling height looks sufficient to accommodate a conventional above ground lift with no problem.I don't know about other parts of the U.S but Rotary is the most widespread lift in use down south.

Ronnie.

Since the last post it seems we have been mostly digging holes and covering them over again 

Anyway, we have power hooked up now and I think the hole digging is over for a while.  Wanted to get all that done before the weather changed on us.  We have been also working on the interior and Laura put together an awesome patio too   

Here are some pictures I took today of the mayhem...

Very Nice Tom.  Only problem I ever had with work being in the back yard is the customers always know where to find you.

Hi Tom,
Looking good, Now your getting to the fun stuff, When do you think that jet full of nerdz will head west  

Carl,
I'll take my steak well done,and a  please

Mick,
Well I made it back alive and just start to get things in order,
I am in for going west  , I am sure there is some other guys like Dave, wilf,Ronnie and many others that would like to go this would be a very good time.
Then I could learn some of Micks tricks

You know what mick your right the patio is to small but we will be inside playing with pico's.

Have a good night.
Rich

Excellent 

Maybe there is something to that 'If you build it they will come' thing.    

No one is more anxious for the grand opening than me.  As you can see, there is a LOT of work to be done yet.  At this point, I am doing it all in my 'spare time'.  So, we don't even have a projected opening date yet.  Of course, it will never be 'finished' but as we progress and I can see a workable result on the horizon, I will set a goal for the opening and let you all know so you can make plans in advance.  I anticipate sometime in the spring if all goes well.  Maybe the rain will have slowed down by then and we won't have to crowd Laura's patio which is the only outdoor covered area.  Like Rich says though, we'll be paling inside mostly anyway 

Rick, I know what you mean about a shop in your back yard.  I used to be a ESO with a shop on my property.  It was some distance away from the house, but still....  However, we won't be doing work for the public here.  Been there done that and had my fill.  This will be strictly for professional techs as a research/training facility along with my office operations and warehouse.  And of course, Pico Automotive Central.  My Autonerdz customers already know where to find me so it's too late anyway     I don't mind that at all 

Been spending the wee hours of the morning`s with the Nerd 1and 2 cd`s, man its alot of info to digest..Thought I take a look at Headquarters and see if there was a open spot for a learner...Tom, you need someone to sweep the floor?
Got any new pics?

Dave

er..Wife told me she wished I spent that much time with her.. , so there will be a break between these CD`s 

Hey Tom,
My talents are not above sweeping your floors...I`m still learning and hope I never forget the little stuff . Everything is looking real good. I use those heaters--radiant-- mine is a "Reznor". A good tip on those is the differential pressure sensor, seems the spiders like to get in mine and it fails to start come winter...A good cleaning gets it heating again.

Dave

Hi Mohammad,

Pal, I wish your name wasn't subjective. That is not fair to you.

No need to worry, you've got some watching your back. 

What an honor it would be for you to show up. You are an expert in rotating electrical which many of us are no where near your expertise.

I feel for ya trying to aboard a plane with crazy looking stuff. (And tag that with the first name). It is just car stuff agent! Can't blame them for trying to protect everyone with what they have to work with.

Hope to see ya soon, Mohammad. I just wish you weren't discriminated.

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Sorry, not yet.  We will announce it here though.   

Tom and all who go to classes like this

I was listening to Glen Beck interview.... um I think it was the ex CEO of Jet Blue concerning airline ticket pricing. He (and others) think the day of low cost (reachable by the masses) tickets are going away permanently.

I can't help but think this will hurt hands on or in person training. What do you think?

There is readily available technology to have PC based live interactive training (beyond what you've already done) but it is quite expensive to "experiement" with.... Even the academic versions

A long time ago I thought the educators/trainers/seminarians etc could get together and redo an "iatn" and have a reasonably priced central advanced training site where those creating the material would actually financially benefit instead of the host. Instead what has happened is that those with good material to offer have all split off in different directions and occasionally throw a bone out to the masses on the business called "iatn" hoping it will suffice for an advertisement without bringing the wrath of BB on them.

I don't ever see it happening...   And the tech population loses again.    

Hey Tom and Nerdz  

This is finally it, I'm going[smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]mad
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If you look from the Universe the world Is local right    So I might get my second longest distance award  
I'm flying to SeaTac and plan to hop over for about 5 or 6 days, I'll post details later.
Looking forward to meet the Master   and as much disciples as possible  

Jan.

Good to meet you to Don No I haven't been to Washington yet and it will also be the last trip for the time being because I need the time and money to move the shop in the near future

Jan.

Hello Jan,
      We could meet this week. I am working till 5 PM these days. There is a sizeable Scandinavian community here in the Pacific Northwest; you might notice. Carl is coming out on Friday.If you want, call me at 206 450 3969.
  Are you going to rent a car?

Great. I am going to work the 4 ten- hour- day week, or at least so that Friday I have just a couple hours or so to make up; I could pick Carl up at the airport myself. How does that sound Carl?

Nah I'm not rich just saved for this so if we can put the cobalt in the trunk of the caddy then you can ride with Rich Mick and me

Jan

I am amazed at how many of you came to our humble open house event from such a long way.  I hope you all had a great time...I know we did  

Thank you all for coming.   

It never got over crowded and the local visitors trickled in one group at a time an so there was never too many at one time to get to talk with everyone and see what was going on.

Laura did a great job with the foods and other things to make things go smoothly.

We just were able to visit and do nerdy stuff all weekend.  It was a pleasure to meet you all and I was blown away by the expertise we had here in one place.  Wow.  

I know we will be having future Nerd conventions here.  This was just too much fun.  I'm sure it must have been illegal  

The weather got sunny just for the weekend and so we were all able to enjoy some rare beautiful  days for October here.

I wish we would have gotten more pictures but here is all we have in a zip file.

Well I made it back home to Toronto but not without problems at security. I had taken
back some cop extension leads in my computer bag and I had to be pulled over to the side
and explain what they where before they opened the bag, then they did a swob test in all
the compartments.   

Anyway I can tell you all, that being at Toms was a treat we got looked after by Laura in
the food and drink department, all the vegetables were fresh out the garden I feel so
healthy now. 

To be able to try out the new pressure transducer on the Cadi while we used Carls Tech 2
to activate the intake and exhaust actuators was great.

Rich got the easy job from the
drivers seat so in the end we got him to polish the beautification covers when we were
done. 

It was good to be able to put a face to a name Fisher (Don) Keith Rich Carl Jan Tom and
many more thank you for making me feel at home and making sure I got to the airport to
return .

I only wish I lived closer for future events. If you do live on the west coast you got to go
there,  you want regret it.

I will post pictures when I get back on track

Mick

Hi Group,

Well I made it back in one piece.

Today was the first day back on the job.
I think, I gained some weight from all the food and drinks that Tom and his wife set up for us Many thanks.
Tom and his wife are very fun to be around, thanks for the good time and hard work that was taken to make this posible.

I also enjoyed meeting other piconerdz as well.

It was fun to mess with some of the guys in person that I have messed with for years online.

Thanks for the toys Tom. I used one today with good results.

And a special thanks to Jan for dragging my butt out there .

Never Stop learning

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Sure Dave.....This should do it.

Hey everybody,
I made it back home safely as well. Landed 7.00 am local time tuesday (11.00 pm monday Seattle time)
Boy this jet lag does weird things to my biological clock, I'm still dazed and confused, they say recovery could take up to 5 days or more.
My hand bag was examined thoroughly at security as well, some items, even my spare batteries, were x-rayed two times and when I opened my suitcase at home I found this notice of baggage inspection paper.

Laura and Tom,
Thanks for the great hospitality that we were exposed to, I sure wish I lived closer for future events to.
It was an awesome experience to meet the MasterNerd at last, I've been looking out for this a long time.
I'm sure the training center will become a respected location for Pico and other training, I wish you both the very best.

Thanks to my fellow Nerdz who were able to travel the distances they did, you are my mentors. I can only dream of the knowledge you have.
Sad for the ones that couldn't make it and sure hope to meet more of you the next time I hop over.

It was hard though to drag Rich across the state, but somebody had to do it......  We sure had a great time did we? The music museum, Pike place market, dinner with Don up in the space needle, meeting Alice and Albin in Dryden and the drive up there.

I was a little disappointed but lucky that you guys couldn't break the caddy, what a great car!!! drove 665 miles in delight. It doesn't even have an ignition key, only a remote and a start button on the dash.

So I love to be in the US and wish I was born there, but now my first priority will be to rent out the shop, find another house with shop and move to a more rural and quiet place.

Until soon,
Jan.

Hi Jan,

You Forgot to show them the rest of your Car

Jan,

Next time we go to Autonerdz I want you to rent this one.

Home James

Rich,

That white Cadi has a flat on the right front rear tire. For some reason that doesn't sound right. Wouldn't we need to service that on the world's longest hoist? Do you think that has a really long engine beautification cover?