It's been a while.

Lot's of stuff happenin right now!

1. Me coche (my car)
   
2. King Pong
3. Work, work, work...

1. Me coche
From all appearances, my car is finally fixed! This has been about a 7 month ordeal- on-off, on-off, ad infinitum (for at least 7 mos :P). Started with... Geez! I can't even remember what it was back in November! Hmmm... Ok. I think what happened is:
In November the 'Check Engine' light came on. Took it to my mechanic for it's oil change, and had them do a diagnostic as well. Problem was a bad O2 sensor- they replaced the sensor and cleared the computer, and off went the light. Around February the car started having idle issues- sitting at a stop-light with the transmission in 'D' (it's an automatic) I could hear the engine reving around, what I estimate to be, 2000 rpm, and could feel the car pulling against the brakes; and by now the light was back on. Then when I'd park the car, and put the gear selector in 'P', the engine would shoot up above 6000 rpm. Also started having issues with the transmission not going into reverse immediately when I put the gear selector in 'R'- it'd take up to 5 seconds some time; which became a concern when trying to do a 3-point with waiting (or on-coming) traffic. Took it in about 4-5 weeks ago to try and resolve this problem and found out that I needed new plugs, wires, and a cap; again they cleared the computer and out went the light.

It ran better except for the high revving idle, then about two weeks later, on comes the light. Took it in two weekends ago and had a faulty Throttle Position Sensor replaced; I was also told that there still might be problems given that the Throttle Body itself was made of plastic. Took it in today to replace the Throttle Body (now it's not plastic) and for the last 20 miles it's been great!

My '01 Ford Focus wagon now has appx 71,000 miles and I'm not sure if this is par for the course, or not- I had some very strong negative emotions in light of the last two problems. In comparison, my friend's Toyota has well over 100,000 miles and has had no issues, save for regular maintenance.

Well, I'm grateful it's running. : )

2. King Pong
We kicked off the tournament Monday at noon with some announcements from the organizers regarding rules of play, how the double-elimination brackets work, and prizes.

• Rules of play:
  
  
  
  • Serves must be tossed/"popped", from a flat palm, at least six inches, and cannot come from below the table.
  
  
  • Serving alternates every two points until a player reaches 11, by two points. In the event of a "deuce" (10-10), serving alternates every point until a player wins by achieving a two point difference from their opponent's score (12-10, 13-11, etc...).
  
  
  • Sets are played as "best 3 out of 5" matches.


• Double elimination: Just cause you lose once, doesn't mean you're a loser! Well, at least not emphatically. Upon losing their first set, a player is placed in the "Loser's Bracket" (no, they're still not a loser). If a player beats all their opponents in the "Loser's Bracket", they go on to play the winner of the "Winner's Bracket". If the "Winner's Bracket" player wins the first set, they are the champion. If the "Loser's Bracket" player wins the first set, they can play one more set for a chance to be champion. I'm not sure how 2nd Place and 3rd Place are determined.


• The prizes:

  1st:	A trophy, a medal, and a ping-pong table.
  2nd:	A trophy, a medal, and 6-star Double Happiness paddle.
  3rd:	A trophy, a medal, and 5-star Double Happiness paddle.

3. Work, work, work....

Ummm..... later. I took too much time on the historical inaccuracy of my car's afflictions.

Good night,
Zach